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Shortest path problem

Computational problem of graph theory / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In graph theory, the shortest path problem is the problem of finding a path between two vertices (or nodes) in a graph such that the sum of the weights of its constituent edges is minimized.

Shortest_path_with_direct_weights.svg
Shortest path (A, C, E, D, F) between vertices A and F in the weighted directed graph

The problem of finding the shortest path between two intersections on a road map may be modeled as a special case of the shortest path problem in graphs, where the vertices correspond to intersections and the edges correspond to road segments, each weighted by the length of the segment.