In 1984, two computer scientists developed a clever heap design that enabled Dijkstra’s algorithm to reach a theoretical limit, or “lower bound,” on the time required to solve the single ...

Dijkstra’s algorithm was long thought to be the most efficient way to find a graph’s best routes. ... Many different algorithms can solve any given problem, ... the 26-year-old Dutch computer ...

These components, they suspected, might even allow them to solve the harder “minimum cost” problem, in which you’re looking for the cheapest way to route a given amount of material. Computer ...