A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms

Breadth-First Search

LinkedIn is another popular social network that specializes in business relationships. One of its well-known features is that you can determine your second- and third-degree connections in addition to your direct network.

In the diagram on the right, Alice is connected directly to Bob, and Bob is connected directly to Cynthia. However, Alice is not connected directly to Cynthia. Since Cynthia is connected to Alice by way of Bob, Cynthia is said to be Alice’s second-degree connection.

If we wanted to find Alice’s entire network, including her indirect connections, how would we go about that?

There are two classic ways to traverse ...