When Edsger W. Dijkstra published his algorithm in 1959, computer networks were barely a thing. The algorithm in question found the shortest path between any two nodes on a graph, with a variant ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle ...

Most of you have used a navigation app like Google Maps for your travels at some point. These apps rely on algorithms that compute shortest paths through vast networks. Now imagine scaling that task ...

If you’ve been making the same commute for a long time, you’ve probably settled on what seems like the best route. But “best” is a slippery concept. Perhaps one day there’s an accident or road closure ...

A guarantee for estimating distances across networks, set in 1996, now reaches much closer pairs of points than anyone had ...

What is Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)? Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is an IP routing protocol that uses a mathematical algorithm to calculate the most efficient path to direct traffic on IP ...