What is the concept of topological sorting and its applications?

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What is the concept of topological sorting and its applications?

Topological sorting is a linear ordering of the vertices of a directed graph such that for every directed edge (u, v), vertex u comes before vertex v in the ordering. In other words, it arranges the vertices in a way that all the directed edges go from left to right.

Applications of topological sorting include:
1. Task scheduling: It can be used to schedule tasks that have dependencies, where a task can only be executed after all its dependencies have been completed.
2. Dependency resolution: It is used in build systems and package managers to determine the order in which dependencies should be installed or built.
3. Course prerequisites: It can be used to determine the order in which courses should be taken, where a course can only be taken after completing its prerequisites.
4. Event sequencing: It can be used to determine the order in which events should occur, where an event can only occur after all the events it depends on have occurred.
5. Deadlock detection: It can be used to detect cycles in a directed graph, which can indicate the presence of deadlocks in a system.