Abstract ::

We will look at 3 different flood fill algorithms - linear, recursive, and queue. Recursive This is the most common algortihm, and simplest to implement. The recursive algorithm branches in all directions at once. This can (read: often will) lead to stack overflows in a managed environment. Queue The queue algorithm is similar to the recursive algorithm, except that it adds the points to be checked to a queue rather than calling them directly. The loop returns immediately to the main fill method, rather than calling itself recursively. It requires extra heap space for a queue, but it uses hardly any stack space. The queue algorithm is by far the slowest algorithm, taking about twice as long as the others. This may be partly because of lack of optimizations in the .NET Queue class, but the queue method would be slower regardless of whether the Queue class was optimized. Linear The linear algorithm first finds the horizontal extent of the color on a given level, then it moves horizontally from left to right, initializing the fill loop upwards and downwards for each point along the way.