Grafalgo - A Library of Graph Algorithms and Supporting Data Structures

Abstract

This report provides an overview of Grafalgo, an open-source library of graph algorithms and the data structures used to implement them. The programs in this library were originally written to support a graduate class in advanced data structures and algorithms at Washington University. Because the code’s primary purpose was pedagogical, it was written to be as straightforward as possible, while still being highly efficient. Grafalgo is implemented in C++ and incorporates some features of C++11. The library is available on an open-source basis and may be downloaded from https://code.google.com/p/grafalgo/. Source code documentation is at www.arl.wustl.edu/~jst/doc/grafalgo. While not designed as production code, the library is suitable for use in larger systems, so long as its limitations are understood. The readability of the code also makes it relatively straightforward to extend it for other purposes. Grafalglo includes implementations of algorithms for a variety of classical graph optimization problems. These include the minimum spanning tree problem, the shortest path problem, the max flow problem, the min-cost flow problem, the graph matching problem and the edge coloring problem for bipartite graphs. Multiple algorithms are provided for each problem, illustrating a variety of different approaches. While all the algorithms included here are efficient enough to be reasonable candidates in practical applications,