Djikstra

A TypeScript implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm for finding shortest paths in graphs.

Installation

npm install djikstra

Usage

import Djikstra from 'djikstra';

// Create a graph as an adjacency list
const graph = {
  A: { B: 5, C: 2 },
  B: { A: 5, D: 1 },
  C: { A: 2, D: 6 },
  D: { B: 1, C: 6, E: 2 },
  E: { D: 2 },
};

const pathfinder = new Djikstra();

// Find shortest path between two nodes
const result = pathfinder.findShortestPath(graph, 'A', 'E');

if (result.status === 'reachable') {
  console.log(`Path found: ${result.path.join(' → ')}`);
  console.log(`Total distance: ${result.distance}`);
} else {
  console.log('No path exists to the destination');
}

// Compute distances to all nodes
const allDistances = pathfinder.computeAllPaths(graph, 'A');
console.log(allDistances);
// Output: { A: 0, B: 5, C: 2, D: 6, E: 8 }

// Compute both distances and paths
const fullResult = pathfinder.computeDistancesAndPaths(graph, 'A');
console.log(fullResult);
// Output: {
//   distances: { A: 0, B: 5, C: 2, D: 6, E: 8 },
//   predecessors: { B: 'A', C: 'A', D: 'B', E: 'D' }
// }

Algorithm Implementation

This library implements Dijkstra's algorithm using a binary min-heap priority queue for performance optimization. Here's what you should know about our implementation:

Approach

• Standard Algorithm: The implementation follows the classic Dijkstra's algorithm but uses modern data structures
• Priority Queue: Uses a binary min-heap for efficient extraction of the node with the smallest distance
• Lazy Updates: Implements "lazy deletion" approach that allows duplicate nodes in the queue but skips already processed ones
• Early Termination: Stops when the destination is reached (for single-path finding)

Performance Characteristics

• Time Complexity: O(E log V) where V is the number of vertices and E is the number of edges
• Space Complexity: O(V) for storing distances, predecessors, and the priority queue

Tradeoffs

• Heap vs. Fibonacci Heap: Uses a binary heap (O(log V) operations) instead of a Fibonacci heap (theoretically faster at O(1) decrease-key) for better real-world performance and implementation simplicity
• Specialized vs. General: Focuses on path finding rather than implementing a general-purpose graph library
• Memory vs. Speed: Prioritizes speed with the priority queue approach over memory efficiency

Creating your own graph

Graphs are represented as adjacency lists using plain JavaScript objects:

// Graph structure
interface Graph {
  [node: string]: {
    [neighbor: string]: number
  }
}

Each key in the outer object represents a node in the graph. The value is another object where:

• Keys are the IDs of neighboring nodes
• Values are the edge weights (distances) to those neighbors

Example for a road network:

const roadNetwork = {
  // Each city with its connections
  "NewYork": {
    "Boston": 215,      // Distance in miles
    "Philadelphia": 95
  },
  "Boston": {
    "NewYork": 215,
    "Portland": 112
  },
  "Philadelphia": {
    "NewYork": 95,
    "Washington": 140
  },
  "Portland": {
    "Boston": 112
  },
  "Washington": {
    "Philadelphia": 140
  }
};

For a weighted graph:

• Include an edge in both directions if travel is allowed both ways
• Use different weights for each direction if costs differ (like uphill vs. downhill)
• Omit connections that aren't possible

API Reference

The Dijkstra class provides three main methods for pathfinding:

findShortestPath

findShortestPath(graph: Graph, source: string, destination: string): PathResult

Calculates the shortest path between two nodes in a graph.

Parameter	Type	Description
graph	Graph	The graph represented as an adjacency list
source	string	The starting node ID
destination	string	The target node ID

Returns: A discriminated union with either reachable or unreachable status

type PathResult = 
  | { status: 'reachable'; path: string[]; distance: number }
  | { status: 'unreachable' }

Throws: Error only if the source node doesn't exist in the graph

---

computeAllPaths

computeAllPaths(graph: Graph, source: string): Record<string, number>

Computes the shortest distance from a source to all reachable nodes.

Parameter	Type	Description
graph	Graph	The graph represented as an adjacency list
source	string	The starting node ID

Returns: An object mapping each node ID to its distance from the source

---

computeDistancesAndPaths

computeDistancesAndPaths(
  graph: Graph, 
  source: string
): { 
  distances: Record<string, number>; 
  predecessors: Record<string, string> 
}

Provides complete pathfinding information from a source to all nodes.

Parameter	Type	Description
graph	Graph	The graph represented as an adjacency list
source	string	The starting node ID

Returns:

• distances: Maps each node ID to its shortest distance from source
• predecessors: Maps each node ID to its predecessor in the shortest path

Note: Use the predecessors map to reconstruct the full path to any node

License

ISC