Algorithms for Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs).
These algorithms leverage the acyclic structure of DAGs to provide efficient, total functions for operations like topological sorting, longest path, transitive closure, and more.
Summary
Types
Direction for reachability counting
Functions
Counts the number of ancestors or descendants for every node.
Finds the longest path (critical path) in a weighted DAG.
Finds the lowest common ancestors (LCAs) of two nodes.
Finds the shortest path between two nodes in a weighted DAG.
Returns a topological ordering of all nodes in the DAG.
Computes the transitive closure of the DAG.
Computes the transitive reduction of the DAG.
Types
Functions
@spec count_reachability(Yog.DAG.t(), direction()) :: %{ required(Yog.node_id()) => integer() }
Counts the number of ancestors or descendants for every node.
For each node, returns how many other nodes are reachable from it
(:descendants) or can reach it (:ancestors).
Uses dynamic programming on the topologically sorted DAG for efficiency. Properly handles diamond patterns where a node is reachable through multiple paths - each node is only counted once.
Time Complexity
O(V × E) in the worst case (sparse graphs), optimized with set operations for common cases.
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:c, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:d, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :b, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :c, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:b, :d, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:c, :d, 1)
...> )
iex> counts = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.count_reachability(dag, :descendants)
iex> counts[:a]
3
iex> counts[:d]
0
@spec longest_path(Yog.DAG.t()) :: [Yog.node_id()]
Finds the longest path (critical path) in a weighted DAG.
The longest path is the path with maximum total edge weight from any source node to any sink node. This is the dual of shortest path and is useful for:
- Project scheduling (finding the critical path)
- Dependency chains with durations
- Determining minimum time to complete all tasks
Time Complexity
O(V + E) - linear via dynamic programming on the topologically sorted DAG.
Note
For unweighted graphs, this finds the path with most edges. Weights must be non-negative for meaningful results.
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:c, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :b, 5)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:b, :c, 3)
...> )
iex> path = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.longest_path(dag)
iex> length(path)
3
@spec lowest_common_ancestors(Yog.DAG.t(), Yog.node_id(), Yog.node_id()) :: [ Yog.node_id() ]
Finds the lowest common ancestors (LCAs) of two nodes.
A common ancestor of nodes A and B is any node that has paths to both A and B. The "lowest" common ancestors are those that are not ancestors of any other common ancestor - they are the "closest" shared dependencies.
This is useful for:
- Finding merge bases in version control
- Identifying shared dependencies
- Computing dominators in control flow graphs
Time Complexity
O(V × (V + E))
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:x, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:x, :a, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:x, :b, 1)
...> )
iex> lcas = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.lowest_common_ancestors(dag, :a, :b)
iex> :x in lcas
true
@spec shortest_path(Yog.DAG.t(), Yog.node_id(), Yog.node_id()) :: {:some, Yog.Pathfinding.Utils.path(any())} | :none
Finds the shortest path between two nodes in a weighted DAG.
Uses dynamic programming on the topologically sorted DAG.
Time Complexity
O(V + E)
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:c, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :b, 3)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:b, :c, 2)
...> )
iex> {:some, path} = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.shortest_path(dag, :a, :c)
iex> {:path, [:a, :b, :c], 5} = path
@spec topological_sort(Yog.DAG.t()) :: [Yog.node_id()]
Returns a topological ordering of all nodes in the DAG.
Unlike Yog.traversal.topological_sort/1 which returns {:ok, sorted} or
{:error, :cycle_detected} (since general graphs may contain cycles), this
version is total - it always returns a valid ordering because the DAG
type guarantees acyclicity.
In a topological ordering, every node appears before all nodes it has edges to. This is useful for scheduling tasks with dependencies, build systems, etc.
Time Complexity
O(V + E)
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(1, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(2, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(3, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(4, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(1, 2, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(1, 3, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(2, 4, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(3, 4, 1)
...> )
iex> sorted = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.topological_sort(dag)
iex> hd(sorted)
1
iex> List.last(sorted)
4
Computes the transitive closure of the DAG.
The transitive closure adds an edge from node A to node C whenever there is a path from A to C. The result is a DAG where reachability can be checked in O(1) by looking for a direct edge.
Time Complexity
O(V × (V + E))
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:c, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :b, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:b, :c, 1)
...> )
iex> closure = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.transitive_closure(dag)
iex> is_struct(closure, Yog.DAG)
true
Computes the transitive reduction of the DAG.
The transitive reduction removes edges that are implied by transitivity. It produces the minimal DAG with the same reachability properties.
Time Complexity
O(V × (V + E))
Examples
iex> {:ok, dag} = Yog.DAG.Model.from_graph(
...> Yog.directed()
...> |> Yog.add_node(:a, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:b, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_node(:c, nil)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:a, :b, 1)
...> |> Yog.add_edge!(:b, :c, 1)
...> )
iex> reduction = Yog.DAG.Algorithm.transitive_reduction(dag)
iex> is_struct(reduction, Yog.DAG)
true