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Held–Karp algorithm implementation in C#

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2 Dec 2014CPOL3 min read 52.3K   310   42   11
Implementation of the dynamic programming solution for the Travelling salesman problem

Code Repository

Introduction

In this article we jump straight to the implementation of the algorithm, I assume reader is familiar with the Travelling salesman problem and Dynamic Programming.

Background

I couldn't find a solid implementation of the algorithm, So I decided to do it myself, hope it helps somebody ;)

How it works

The gist of dynamic programming is two parts:


1) A base case that we already know the answer of (stopping condition)
2) Decreasing the problem domain and calling our algorithm again. (Recursion)

put very simply, and without going into much mathematical lingo, the algorithm takes two inputs, the vertex we are starting from v<code>ertex, and a list of vertices to visit vertices.

No we are faced with two situations, either:

  1. vertices is empty, then yay! no work to do, return the distance between starting point and <span style="font-size: 14px;">v</span><span style="font-size: 14px; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: Consolas, 'Courier New', Courier, mono;">ertex</span><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, sans-serif;">.</span>
  2. vertices is not empty, hmph! lets decrease our problem space:

a) consider each vertex newV in vertices as a starting point.

b) since we are considering newV as a starting point, we have to adjust the list of vertices to visit, by removing newV from vertices. (why would I plan a route to a city I am already in) let it be newVertices.

c) calculate cost of visiting newV + cost of visiting rest of vertices starting from newV.

(which is basically calling the algorithm again but with newV and newVertices as input)

d) return minimum result from step c.

Step by step walkthrough

lets say we have a bi-directional graph with the following distance matrix:

 

  1 2 3 4
1 0 10 15 20
2 5 0 9 10
3 6 13 0 12
4 8 8 9 0

the starting vertex is (1), we wish to visit vertices {2,3,4}
lets say our function is called g, then what we want is:
g(1,{2,3, 4})

These are broken down into getting minimum of:
c12 + g(2,{3, 4})
c13 + g(3,{2,4})
c14 + g(4,{2,3})}

c12 is cost of getting from (1) to (2), c13 is cost of getting from (1) to (3),etc...
which are (in order)

g(2, {3,4})= min {

c23 + g(3,{4}),

c24 + g(4,{3})

} = 25

g(3, {4}) = c34 + g(4,{}) = 12 + 8 = 20

g(4, {3}) = c43 + g(3,{}) = 9 + 6 =15

g(3, {2,4})= min {

c32 + g(2,{4}),

c34 + g(4,{2})

} = 25

g(2, {4}) = c24 + g(4, {}) = 10 + 8 = 18

g(4, {2}) = c42 + g(2,{}) = 8 + 5 = 13

g(4, {2,3})= min {

c42 + g(2,{3}),

c43 + g(3,{2})

} = 23

g(3, {2}) = c32 + g(2,{}) = 13 + 5 = 18

g(2, {3}) = c23 + g(3, {}) = 9 + 6 = 15

Substituting in our first three formulas gives :
min{

10 + 25,

15 + 25,

20 + 23

}=min {35, 40, 43}=35
To get the actual tour, we create a Tree

C#
private class Node
{
    public int Value { get; set; }
    public Node[] ChildNodes { get; set; }
    public bool Selected { get; set; }
}

The tree data structure will mimic the branching of our algorithm, marking each time the Node (Vertex) with least cost as selected.

Image 1

After the algorithm terminates, we traverse the tree, checking only vertices that were marked as selected.

Code

C#
private double GetMinimumCostRoute(int startVertex, HashSet<int> set, Node root)
        {
            if (!set.Any())
            {
                //source node is assumed to be the first
                root.ChildNodes = new Node[1] { new Node { Value = _vertices.First(), Selected = true } };
                return _adjacencyMatrix[startVertex, 0];
            }

            double totalCost = double.MaxValue;
            int i = 0;
            int selectedIdx = i;
            root.ChildNodes = new Node[set.Count()];

            foreach (var destination in set)
            {
                root.ChildNodes[i] = new Node { Value = destination };

                double costOfVistingCurrentNode = _adjacencyMatrix[startVertex, destination];

                var newSet = new HashSet<int>(set);
                newSet.Remove(destination);
                double costOfVisitingOtherNodes = GetMinimumCostRoute(destination, newSet, root.ChildNodes[i]);
                double currentCost = costOfVistingCurrentNode + costOfVisitingOtherNodes;

                if (totalCost > currentCost)
                {
                    totalCost = currentCost;
                    selectedIdx = i;
                }

                i++;
            }

            root.ChildNodes[selectedIdx].Selected = true;

            return totalCost;

        }
</int></int>

Conclusion

Note that the running time is exponential, There are at most O(n*2n) subproblems, and each one takes linear time to solve. The total running time is therefore O(n2*2n).

As always I hope I delivered a clear explanation and an adequate implementation ;)
Do let me know if you have any feedback/questions.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer
Egypt Egypt
Enthusiastic programmer/researcher, passionate to learn new technologies, interested in problem solving, data structures, algorithms, AI, machine learning and nlp.

Amateur guitarist/ keyboardist, squash player.

Comments and Discussions

 
General- Pin
codingdrone7-Oct-17 22:43
codingdrone7-Oct-17 22:43 
GeneralRe: - Pin
Omar Gameel Salem18-Oct-17 14:08
professionalOmar Gameel Salem18-Oct-17 14:08 
GeneralRe: - Pin
Member 148770007-Dec-20 13:08
Member 148770007-Dec-20 13:08 
PraiseFelicitación Pin
Edwin Vargs15-Sep-17 16:03
Edwin Vargs15-Sep-17 16:03 
muy buen trabajo, me ayudo muchisimo, esta muy bien explicado, tanto que me quedo fácil pasarlo a java.


Translation:
very good work, helped me a lot, this very well explained, so much that I'm easy to pass it on to java.
QuestionAlternative Pin
Magerusan Grigore Cosmin4-Aug-16 5:05
Magerusan Grigore Cosmin4-Aug-16 5:05 
Questioncode project Pin
Halima Azza21-Dec-15 22:07
Halima Azza21-Dec-15 22:07 
QuestionWhere is memorization step? Pin
Member 1155863226-Mar-15 11:03
Member 1155863226-Mar-15 11:03 
GeneralGood Job Pin
Emre Ataseven18-May-14 8:13
professionalEmre Ataseven18-May-14 8:13 
GeneralThanks Pin
Victor Nascimento16-May-14 15:03
Victor Nascimento16-May-14 15:03 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Philip Liebscher29-Apr-14 8:36
Philip Liebscher29-Apr-14 8:36 

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