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Graphs in Data Structures

Graphs are data structures consisting of nodes (vertices) connected by edges, used to model relationships in various real-world scenarios like social networks and road maps. They can be directed or undirected, weighted or unweighted, and are explored using algorithms such as BFS, DFS, and Dijkstra's algorithm. The choice of representation (adjacency matrix or list) affects the efficiency of operations like adding or removing vertices and edges.

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4 views

Graphs in Data Structures

Graphs are data structures consisting of nodes (vertices) connected by edges, used to model relationships in various real-world scenarios like social networks and road maps. They can be directed or undirected, weighted or unweighted, and are explored using algorithms such as BFS, DFS, and Dijkstra's algorithm. The choice of representation (adjacency matrix or list) affects the efficiency of operations like adding or removing vertices and edges.

Uploaded by

gssschhakoh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Graphs in Data Structures: A Simple

Explanation
Imagine a network of friends on social media. Each person is like a node (or
vertex), and the connections between them are like edges. This network, with its
nodes and edges, is a simple example of a graph in data structures.

Key components of a graph:

 Nodes (or vertices): These are the individual elements in the graph. They can represent
people, places, objects, or any other entity.
 Edges: These are the connections between nodes. They can be directed (one-way) or
undirected (two-way).

Types of graphs:

 Undirected graph: Edges have no direction, meaning the connection goes both ways. For
example, if Alice and Bob are friends, the edge between them is undirected.
 Directed graph: Edges have a direction, meaning the connection goes only one way. For
example, if a website links to another website, it's a directed edge.

Why are graphs useful?

Graphs are incredibly versatile and can be used to model a wide range of real-world
scenarios, such as:

 Social networks: Representing connections between people.


 Road networks: Showing roads and intersections between cities.
 Web pages: Illustrating hyperlinks between websites.
 Computer networks: Depicting connections between devices.

Common graph algorithms:

 Breadth-first search (BFS): Used to find the shortest path between two nodes in an
unweighted graph.
 Depth-first search (DFS): Used to explore all nodes in a graph, often to find connected
components.
 Dijkstra's algorithm: Used to find the shortest path between two nodes in a weighted graph.

In essence, graphs provide a powerful way to represent relationships and


connections between different entities. They are a fundamental data structure
with numerous applications in computer science and beyond.

Graph Terminologies

Here are some key terminologies related to graphs in data structures:

Basic Components

 Graph: A collection of nodes (vertices) connected by edges.


 Vertex (Node): A single entity or point within a graph.
 Edge: A connection between two vertices.

Types of Graphs

 Undirected Graph: Edges have no direction (e.g., friendships on social media).


 Directed Graph (Digraph): Edges have a direction (e.g., one-way streets, website links).
 Weighted Graph: Edges have associated values (e.g., distances between cities, costs of
connections).
 Unweighted Graph: Edges have no associated values.

Graph Properties

 Degree of a Vertex: The number of edges connected to a vertex.


 Path: A sequence of vertices connected by edges.
 Cycle: A path that starts and ends at the same vertex.
 Connected Graph: A graph where every pair of vertices has a path between them.
 Disconnected Graph: A graph that is not connected.
 Tree: A connected graph with no cycles.

Graph Representations

 Adjacency Matrix: A 2D array where rows and columns represent vertices, and a value of 1
indicates an edge between them.
 Adjacency List: An array of lists, where each index represents a vertex, and the list contains
its adjacent vertices.

Graph Algorithms

 Breadth-First Search (BFS): Explores a graph level by level, finding the shortest path in an
unweighted graph.
 Depth-First Search (DFS): Explores a graph by going as deep as possible along each branch
before backtracking.
 Dijkstra's Algorithm: Finds the shortest paths from a single source vertex to all other vertices
in a weighted graph.

Here are some common operations that can be performed on graphs:

1. Vertex Operations

 Add Vertex: Insert a new node into the graph.


 Remove Vertex: Delete an existing node from the graph, along with all its incident edges.

2. Edge Operations

 Add Edge: Create a new connection between two existing vertices.


 Remove Edge: Delete an existing connection between two vertices.

3. Graph Traversal

 Breadth-First Search (BFS): Explore the graph level by level, finding the shortest path in an
unweighted graph.
 Depth-First Search (DFS): Explore the graph by going as deep as possible along each branch
before backtracking.
4. Pathfinding

 Dijkstra's Algorithm: Finds the shortest paths from a single source vertex to all other vertices
in a weighted graph.
 A Search:* An informed search algorithm that efficiently finds the shortest path between two
nodes in a graph.

5. Graph Coloring

 Assigns colors to vertices so that no adjacent vertices have the same color.

6. Minimum Spanning Tree

 Finds a subset of the edges that connects all vertices in the graph with the minimum total
weight.

7. Topological Sort

 Orders the vertices in a directed acyclic graph (DAG) so that for every directed edge (u, v),
vertex u comes before vertex v in the ordering.

Visual Representation

Implementation Considerations

The choice of data structure to represent the graph (adjacency matrix or adjacency
list) can significantly impact the efficiency of these operations. For example:

 Add/Remove Vertex: More efficient with adjacency list.


 Add/Remove Edge: More efficient with adjacency list for sparse graphs, adjacency matrix for
dense graphs.
 Graph Traversal: BFS and DFS can be implemented efficiently with both representations.

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