A new linear algorithm for triangulating monotone polygons

Abstract

Let P = ( p 1, p 2,…, p n ) be a monotone polygon whose vertices are specified in terms of cartesian coordinates in order. A new simple two-step procedure is presented for triangulating P, without the addition of new vertices, in O( n) time. Unlike the previous algorithm no specialized code is needed since the new approach uses well-known existing algorithms for first decomposing P into edge-visible polygons and subsequently triangulating these.