Data Structures - Graphs For Beginners

Under Construction

Graphs and graph traversal algorithms are a cornerstone of every computer scientists education. Every reputable university will feature one or more classes dedicated to this topic and with good reason, the theory covered within these topics branches into a number of practical uses.

If you are interested in going into something like Game Development then graphs feature pretty heavily.

• Game developers typically use algorithms such as the A* search algorithm in order to implement basic AI within their games.
• Network Engineers widely use Djikstra's Algorithm in order to implement their network routing protocols.

Directed and Undirected

Graphs can come in two distinct flavours; directed and undirected.

Directed Graphs

Directed Graphs feature a series of nodes where the path or edge between each node is only one-way. I.e. you cannot traverse from one node to a neighbouring connected node and return across the same edge.

Un-directed Graphs

Un-directed graphs feature a series of nodes where each path can be travelled both forwards and backwards. I.e. in a graph that contains 2 connected nodes, you can start at one node, travel to the other and then travel back to the original node across the same edge.

Conclusion

I hope you found this tutorial somewhat informative and helpful! If you require further assistance then please feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below or tweet me @Elliot_F.

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