function alignment = initialize_constants(alignment)

%Constants
gap = -1;
scoring_matrix = [ 1  0  0  0;  %
                   0  1  0  0;
                   0  0  1  0;
                   0  0  0  1];
match_symbol  = '\';    %comes diagonally
delete_symbol = '^';    %comes from above
insert_symbol = '>';    %comes from left
gap_symbol = '-';

alignment.gap = gap;
alignment.gap_symbol = gap_symbol;
alignment.match_symbol = match_symbol;
alignment.delete_symbol = delete_symbol;
alignment.insert_symbol = insert_symbol;
alignment.scoring_matrix = scoring_matrix;