Rutgers Course Dependencies Visualization

An interactive web application that visualizes course prerequisites across Rutgers subjects. It helps students understand course relationships and plan their academic journey more effectively.

Features

• Visual prerequisite graphs per subject using Cytoscape.js
• Color-coded nodes by course level (100/200/300/400)
• Sticky toolbar with subject filter and quick actions (Fit, Reset, Clear)
• Loading overlay for feedback on long fetches
• Works entirely from a simple Flask backend endpoint

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+ (3.11 recommended)
• pip

Setup

1. Clone the repository and enter the project directory.
2. Create and activate a virtual environment:
   • macOS/Linux:

     python3 -m venv venv
     source venv/bin/activate

   • Windows (PowerShell):

     py -3 -m venv venv
     venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Run locally

python server.py

• The app starts at http://localhost:7000.
• If you change the port in server.py, update the URL accordingly.

Production (optional)

Use gunicorn to serve the app:

gunicorn -w 2 -b 0.0.0.0:7000 server:app

Usage

1. Use the Filter box to quickly find a subject by name or number (e.g., "Computer" or "198").
2. Select a subject and click "Search Subject".

Legend

• Node color indicates course level:
  • 100: green
  • 200: amber
  • 300: indigo
  • 400: pink

API

• GET /api/graph/<major_number>
  • Returns JSON { nodes: [], edges: [] } for the subject code (e.g., 198 for Computer Science)
  • Each node has id and label
  • Each edge has source and target

Data

• The file rutgers_courses.json is used to build graphs.
• Update or replace this file to refresh data.

Troubleshooting

• If you see CORS-related errors, ensure you are accessing via the same origin as the Flask server or enable CORS as needed.
• If pip install fails, upgrade pip and wheel:

  python -m pip install --upgrade pip wheel

• If the page is blank, check the browser console and Flask logs for errors.

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This project is not affiliated with Rutgers University.