advanced practice · coding problem
Dijkstra shortest path
Weighted graph: 0—1—2 with weights 1 and 4, and 0—2 weight 10. Shortest 0→2?
The mechanism
Pick the algorithm by the graph: BFS for unweighted, Dijkstra when weights are non-negative, Bellman-Ford if weights can be negative, A* when you have a heuristic estimating distance to the goal. Using the wrong one gives wrong answers or wasted time.
Expected evidence
Cost 5 via node 1.
Try this drill in the practice workspace →
Hints when you need them
- Min-heap on tentative distance.
- Skip stale heap entries.