trekhleb / trekhleb/javascript-algorithms
Potential Inefficiency and Missed Priority Updates in Dijkstra's Algorithm Implementation
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Description
In the Dijkstra algorithm, when a shorter path to a neighbor is found, the neighbor's priority in the priority queue should be updated regardless of whether it is already present in the queue.
In this code, the priority is only changed if queue.hasValue(neighbor) returns true. However, if a neighbor is not yet in the queue, it is added; but if it's already present, the code changes its priority.
This logic is correct as long as queue.changePriority works as intended, but it could be fragile if there are issues in the PriorityQueue implementation (such as not truly updating priorities or not handling duplicates). If the PriorityQueue does not remove duplicates, a neighbor may exist multiple times in the queue with different priorities.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Locate the Dijkstra implementation and the PriorityQueue implementation, then inspect how hasValue, changePriority, and duplicate entries behave. Add or update coverage for a shorter path when the neighbor is absent or already present, and confirm the queue preserves the intended priority without duplicates.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- javascript
- Domain
- data
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100