Unit II Line and circle Drawing:

DDA line drawing algorithm, Bresenham’s Line algorithm, Circle and elipse generating
algorithms- Midpoint Circle Algorithm, Midpoint Elipse Algorithm, Polynomials and spline
curves, Filling-Filed - Area Primitives, Scan-Line Polygon File Algorithm, Inside-Outside
Tests, Scan-Line File of Curved Boundary Areas, Boundary-File Algorithm, Flood-File
Algorithm.
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DDA line drawing algorithm (Digital Differential Analyzer)
 DDA stands for Digital Differential Analyzer.
 It is scanning conversion method to draw line.
 DDA (Digital Differential Analyzer) is a line drawing algorithm used in computer
graphics to generate a line segment between two specified endpoints.
 It is a simple and efficient algorithm that works by using the incremental difference
between the x-coordinates and y-coordinates of the two endpoints to plot the line.
 To draw a line between A and B intermediate floating-point value is used. That is
intermediate pixel.
 The straight-line equation is y=mx+b . Here m is the slope.
 Line has two end points namely A ( x 1 , y 1 ) and B ( x2 , y 2 ).
y −y
 Slope of the line is m= x 2−x 1
2 1

∆y d
m=
∆x
or m= d y
x

 That is the slope of the line is difference in y-coordinate and difference in x-

coordinate.

 DDA algorithm is based on the calculation of value of ∆ x and ∆ y .

 Given line has slope +ve (m>0 ¿ or -ve (m<0 ¿. If +ve, the ∆ x and ∆ y values are

increased (m>0 ¿ else ∆ x and ∆ y values are decreased (m<0 ¿.

Case 1: If m<1 Case 2: if m=1 Case 3: if m>1
1
x n=1+ x n x n=1+ x 1 x n= +x
m n
y n=m+ y n y n=1+ y1 y n=1+ y n
Algorithm
Step 1: Consider one point of the line as (X 0 , Y 0 ) and the second point of the line as (X n , Y n ).
Step 2: Calculate ∆ x , ∆ y , m
∆ x = X n−X 0
∆ y =Y n −Y 0
∆y
m=
∆x

Step 3: Depending upon absolute value of∆ x , ∆ y ; choose number of steps to put pixel
between start point and end point
if |( ∆ x )|>|( ∆ y )|
steps=|(∆ x )|
else
steps=|(∆ y )|
Step 4: current point is ( x p , y p ) and next point is ( x p+ 1 , y p+1 )
Find the next point by following 3 cases:
Case 1: If m<1 Case 2: if m=1 Case 2: if m>1
1
x p+1=1+ x p x p+1=1+ x p x p+1= +x
m p
y p +1=m+ y p y p +1=1+ y p y p +1=1+ y p
Step 5: Repeat Step 4 until it reaches end -point.
The DDA algorithm is faster than the direct use of the line equation since it calculates points
on the line without any floating-point multiplication.
Example:
Start point (5,6) and End point (8,12)
∆ x = X n−X 0 ⟹ 8−5=3
∆ y =Y n −Y 0 ⟹ 12−6=6
∆y 6
m= ⟹ =2
∆x 3
Therefore m=2
Choose number of steps to put pixel between start point and end point
Therefore |( ∆ x )|<|( ∆ y )|=3<6
Steps=∆ y =6

As m>1; Case 3 is satisfied,

 1
x p+1= +x
m p
y p +1=1+ y p
x0 , y0 x p+1 y p +1 Round off
5,6 5.5 7 6,7

Example 2

The coordinates of drawn line areP1 = (2, 8)

P2 = (3, 9)
P3 = (4, 10)
P4 = (5, 11)
P5 = (6, 12)
P6 = (7, 13)
P7 = (8, 14)
P8 = (9, 15)
P9 = (10, 16)
P10 = (11, 17)

Advantages of DDA Algorithm

1. Itis the simplest algorithm and it does not require special skills for implementation.
2. It is a faster method for calculating pixel positions than the direct use of equation
y=mx+b .
3. It eliminates the multiplication in the equation by making use of raster characteristics,
so that appropriate increments are applied in the x or v direction to find the pixel
positions along the line path.
Disadvantages of DDA Algorithm
1. Floating point arithmetic in DDA algorithm is still time-consuming.
2. The algorithm is orientation dependent. Hence endpoint accuracy is poor

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Bresenham’s Line algorithm

It determines the point of n-dimensional raster that should be selected in order to form a close
approximation towards a straight line between two points. Line has two end points namely
A ( x 1 , y 1 ) and B ( x2 , y 2 ). It is efficient because it only performed integer addition, integer
subtraction and integer multiplication operation. These operations performed rapidly so the
lines can be generated quickly.
Algorithm
Step 1: Consider one point of the line as (X 0 , Y 0 ) and the second point of the line as (X n , Y n ).

Step 2: Calculate ∆ x , ∆ y
∆ x = X n−X 0
∆ y =Y n −Y 0
Step 3: Calculate the decision parameter (to find exact point to draw a line)
pk =2 ∆ y −∆ x
Step 4: Suppose the current point is ( x k , y k ) and the next point is ( x k+ 1 , y k+ 1) . To find the next
point depending on value of decision parameter pk .
Case 1: if pk <0 ; pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y (next decision parameter)

x k+1 =x k +1
y k +1= y k
Case 2: if pk ≥ 0; the next decision parameter is: ; pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y −2 ∆ x
x k+1 =x k +1
y k +1= y k +1
Step 5: Repeat Step 4 until end point is reached.
Example
Step 1: Start coordinate value (X 0 , Y 0 ) = (9,18) and End point(X n , Y n ) = (14,22)

Step 2: Calculate ∆ x , ∆ y
∆ x = X n−X 0 ⟹ 14−9=5
∆ y =Y n −Y 0 ⟹ 22−18=4
Step 3: Calculate the decision parameter
pk =2 ∆ y −∆ x ⟹ 2∗4−5=3
Now pk =3

Step 4: pk =3 is pk ≥ 0; Case 2 is satisfied

pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y −2 ∆ x
¿ 3+2∗4−2∗5
¿ 11−10=1
x k+1 =x k +1 ⟹ 9+1=10 // starting x-coordinate value

y k +1= y k +1 ⟹18+1=19 // starting y-coordinate value

Repeat Step 4; do process no 2

pk =1 is pk ≥ 0; Case 2 is satisfied

pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y −2 ∆ x
¿ 1+2∗4−2∗5
¿ 9−10=−1
x k+1 =x k +1 ⟹ 10+1=11 // 10 is present x-coordinate value

y k +1= y k +1 ⟹19+1=20 // 19 is present y-coordinate value

Repeat Step 4; do process no 3

pk =1 is pk <0 ; Case 1 is satisfied
 pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y
¿−1+2∗4=7

x k+1 =x k +1

¿ 11+1=12

y k +1= y k =20

Repeat Step 4; do process no 4

pk =7 is pk ≥ 0; Case 2 is satisfied

pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y −2 ∆ x
¿ 7+2∗4−2∗5
¿ 15−10=5
x k+1 =x k +1 ⟹ 12+1=13 // 12 is present x-coordinate value

y k +1= y k +1 ⟹20+ 1=21 // 20 is present y-coordinate value

Repeat Step 4; do process no 5

pk =5 is pk ≥ 0; Case 2 is satisfied

pk +1= pk +2 ∆ y −2 ∆ x
¿ 5+2∗4−2∗5
¿ 13−10=3
x k+1 =x k +1 ⟹ 13+1=14 //13 is present x-coordinate value

y k +1= y k +1 ⟹21+1=22 // 21 is present y-coordinate value

Process no pk pk +1 x k+1 y k +1

Initial 9 18
1 3 1 10 19
2 1 -1 11 20
3 -1 7 12 20
4 7 5 13 21
5 5 3 14 22

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