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by nkrisc 3772 days ago
Why does it move and wiggle? It makes it unnecessarily hard to click on nodes. Also, it took me at least 30 seconds to figure out how to start at all as I didn't notice the small inputs in the upper lefthand corner.
2 comments

Because it's using a graph layout algorithm called Force Directed Graph Drawing, where you basically connect the nodes together with springs and then run a simulation.

The algorithm's really simple and works pretty well, but unfortunately it doesn't really have the concept of 'finished' --- you just keep simulating until it looks right. Some implementations watch for small deltas and when the change rate gets low they stop the simulation, but it can take a while and people frequently don't bother.

I agree, it shouldn't have to be moving immediately. It makes the page much laggier than it has to be.