AI for Othello in Javascript

Overview

I originally wrote this simple HTML and Javascript program for a project in my principles of artificial intelligence class at Iowa State University. The user interface is simple HTML and ES6 Javascript, but the artificial intelligence of the computer player is much more interesting. View this code on github here.

For this project, I implemented a minimax algorithm with alpha beta pruning for the othello AI algorithm. Even with the pruning, the artificial intelligence algorithm can be inefficient while attempting to process a move on higher depths. This issue became exponential as the algorithm would initially map out the entire possible game and attempt to find the best move. I decided to implement a limit of how far the algorithm would map the game out, similar to how most casual players would consider their moves.

You can think of depths as how far the computer player is looking into the future. At a depth of four, where the below implementation is set, the artificial intelligence is looking up to four moves ahead.

Design Considerations

I decided to program this simple application in ES6 Javascript, CSS and HTML not for a performance or UI based reason. This project was one of my early experiments in using Javascript and familiarizing myself in how the language works. This ultimately led to my interest in learning the more type safe Typescript.

What I learned

I value what I learned from this project a lot. This was a great way for me start programming in Javascript and continue to develop my skills. If I were to solve this problem again, I would definitely try to use a completely different programming language in order to learn more about it.

Try it