What is the role of a path traversal in the Dijkstra Algorithm?

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What is the role of a path traversal in the Dijkstra Algorithm?

In the Dijkstra Algorithm, the role of path traversal is to find the shortest path from a starting node to all other nodes in a weighted graph. It involves systematically exploring all possible paths from the starting node to each destination node, while keeping track of the total cost or distance associated with each path.

The algorithm starts by initializing the starting node with a distance of 0 and all other nodes with a distance of infinity. It then selects the node with the smallest distance and explores its neighboring nodes. For each neighboring node, it calculates the total distance from the starting node through the current node and compares it with the previously recorded distance. If the newly calculated distance is smaller, it updates the distance and records the current node as the previous node in the shortest path.

This process continues until all nodes have been visited or until the destination node is reached. The algorithm guarantees that the shortest path to each node is found by gradually expanding the search from the starting node to all other nodes.

Overall, path traversal in the Dijkstra Algorithm plays a crucial role in determining the shortest path by exploring and evaluating all possible paths in a weighted graph.