What is Kruskal's Algorithm?
Kruskal's Algorithm is a graph algorithm that finds the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) of a graph. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds.
Imagine you're at a party and you want to invite as many people as possible with the least amount of cake. That's basically what Kruskal's Algorithm does, but with edges and vertices instead of cake.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use Kruskal's Algorithm:
- Sort the edges of your graph in non-decreasing order of their weights
- Start with an empty MST
- For each edge, check if it's part of the MST
- If not, add it to the MST
- Repeat until all edges have been added
Example Use Case:
Let's say you're planning a road trip from New York to Los Angeles. You can represent the cities as nodes and the roads as edges with weights. Kruskal's Algorithm will help you find the shortest path, or in this case, the most epic road trip ever.
But wait, what's the difference between Kruskal's and Prims Algorithm?