Dijkstra Algorithm Questions Medium
The source vertex in the Dijkstra Algorithm serves as the starting point for finding the shortest path to all other vertices in a weighted graph. It is the vertex from which the algorithm begins its exploration and calculates the shortest distances to all other vertices.
The algorithm starts by assigning a distance value of 0 to the source vertex and infinity to all other vertices. Then, it explores the neighboring vertices of the source vertex and updates their distance values if a shorter path is found. This process continues iteratively, gradually expanding the explored vertices and updating the distance values until all vertices have been visited or until the shortest path to the target vertex is found.
In summary, the role of the source vertex is to initiate the Dijkstra Algorithm and determine the initial distances to all other vertices, allowing the algorithm to find the shortest path from the source to any other vertex in the graph.