11. Heaps and Dijkstra's Algorithm
Heaps are a crucial data structure used in priority queues, enabling efficient operations such as insertion and deletion. The chapter discusses Dijkstra's algorithm, highlighting the importance of heaps for efficiently managing and updating distances in graphs. Additionally, it explores using heaps for sorting data and presents a methodology for achieving in-place sorting using heaps.
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What we have learnt
- Heaps can be represented as arrays and provide log N time complexity for insertion and deletion operations.
- Dijkstra's algorithm utilizes heaps to efficiently find and update the minimum distance among vertices in a graph.
- Heaps can be employed for sorting, achieving O(n log n) time complexity through deletion operations.
Key Concepts
- -- Heap
- A tree-based data structure that satisfies the heap property, where the key of each node is greater than or equal to the keys of its children. This structure allows for quick access to the maximum or minimum element.
- -- Dijkstra's Algorithm
- An algorithm for finding the shortest paths between nodes in a graph, particularly effective for graphs with non-negative weights, utilizing a priority queue to select the next vertex with the minimum distance.
- -- Sorting with Heaps
- A sorting technique that involves building a heap from the data, then repeatedly extracting the maximum or minimum element to produce a sorted output in O(n log n) time.
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