How to Draw a Planar Graph: An Experimental Evaluation
TL;DR
The study compares established algorithms from the graph drawing literature, practical force-directed and pressure-based heuristics, and new optimization-based methods that directly improve visual properties such as edge-length uniformity, face-area balance, and angular resolution to show that no evaluated algorithm is best across all aesthetic criteria.
Abstract
Planar graphs are central to graph drawing, with extensive results on planar layouts and related structures. Every planar graph admits a planar straight-line drawing, and algorithms can guarantee additional geometric or combinatorial properties. However, it is unclear which algorithms work best in practice. Even for small graphs with near-perfect manual drawings, standard algorithms might produce poor spacing, distorted faces, or small angles. We present an experimental evaluation of planar graph drawing algorithms on a large benchmark collection of small and medium-sized planar graphs (\(10\)--\(400\) vertices). The study compares established algorithms from the graph drawing literature, practical force-directed and pressure-based heuristics, and new optimization-based methods that directly improve visual properties such as edge-length uniformity, face-area balance, and angular resolution. The results show that no evaluated algorithm is best across all aesthetic criteria, and optimizing one visual property often worsens another. Directly optimizing visual criteria improves targeted scores, and score-guided combination of several methods gives the best aggregate results, but no simple algorithm emerges as a clear universal default. Designing a simple, robust algorithm that performs well across graph families and aesthetic criteria therefore remains an open practical problem.