Edmonds-Karp Algorithm
The Edmonds-Karp algorithm is a specific implementation of the Ford-Fulkerson method for computing the maximum flow in a flow network. It uses breadth-first search (BFS) to find augmenting paths, ensuring polynomial time complexity of O(VE²), where V is the number of vertices and E is the number of edges. This algorithm is widely used in network flow problems, such as in transportation, telecommunications, and bipartite matching.
Developers should learn the Edmonds-Karp algorithm when working on optimization problems involving flow networks, such as resource allocation, network routing, or matching in bipartite graphs. It is particularly useful in competitive programming, algorithm design, and applications like maximum bipartite matching or finding the minimum cut in a network, due to its guaranteed efficiency and simplicity compared to other flow algorithms.