OLYMPIADS IN INFORMATICS, 2018, Vol. 12, pp. 25 - 41
© IOI, Vilnius University

ISSN 1822-7732

DOI: 10.15388/ioi.2018.03

Tidal Flow: A Fast and Teachable Maximum Flow Algorithm

Matthew C. FONTAINE

Independent Researcher
e-mail: tehqin@gmail.com

Abstract

Among the most interesting problems in competitive programming involve maximum flows. However, effcient algorithms for solving these problems are often diffcult for students to understand at an intuitive level. One reason for this diffculty may be a lack of suitable metaphors relating these algorithms to concepts that the students already understand. This paper introduces a novel maximum flow algorithm, Tidal Flow, that is designed to be intuitive to undergraduate and pre-university computer science students.

Keywords:

algorithms, maximum flow, flow network, flow augmentation.


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Copyright © International Olympiad in Informatics, 2018
Vilnius University, 2018