Talk:Dijkstra's algorithm

Including Important Sections

Hi all,

This article was one of the first sources I looked to for understanding graph theory. Now that I am more familiar with the topic, there are clear changes that needed to be made to make this article more complete, and I've attempted to start this process but will still need help!

For summarizing the motivation behind the changes I made:

- Introduction: 'faster' doesn't fit the encyclopedic tone of Wikipedia, and understanding time complexity is both important and potentially accessible even on Simple English Wikipedia! It's how you can compare which tool to use given what type size and limitations you have for an algorithm's application. I replaced this with short examples of how this algorithm can be used, to hopefully build an accessible understanding of why you would want to use this algorithm.

- Algorithm: Referencing the nodes as 'things' does simplify the language, but a reader can infer what a node means especially if contextualized earlier. The actual steps listed for performing the algorithm didn't fully align to how it actually works, so I have revised it to hopefully be more aligned while using the proper language.

- Time Complexity: Big O notation can be inaccessible, but it has a direct explanation of how to source it and write it. I hope that the link to the Simple Big O page is helpful, but some variant of this with or without the actual name is important!

- Limitations: Dijkstra's is not always the best, and there are many graph algorithms students will learn about that are closely related to Dijkstra's. Including information about why these alternatives exist and briefly introducing why they are useful is hopefully a good springboard for people trying to actually implement this algorithm.

There's still a lot of changes necessary to improve this article, but I'm hoping that this is a good start! Rather than fully remove any or all of these sections, please discuss why the sections may be inaccessible or why you think they are not important to the understanding of Dijkstra's algorithm. This way we can all improve the article with a clear consensus for what should and should not be present!

:^)

- Miles MShelUR (talk) 23:45, 8 December 2025 (UTC)