BELLMAN FORD

ALGORITHM
Module-4
Dr. S. Vinila Jinny
ASP/SCOPE
Bellman-Ford algorithm
Bellman-Ford algorithm

Initialize all the

distances
Bellman-Ford algorithm

iterate over all

edges/vertices
and apply update
rule
Bellman-Ford algorithm
Bellman-Ford algorithm

check for negative

cycles
Negative cycles

What is the shortest path

from a to e?

1
1 B D

5
A
10 -10

C E
3
Bellman-Ford algorithm
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A:
2
1 1

-2
F C

-1 3
E D
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A: 3
2
1 1

-2
F C

-1 3
E D
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A: 3
2
1 1

-2
C B:
F
-1 3
E D
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A: 3
2
1 1

-2
C B: 5
F
-1 3
E D
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A: 3
2
1 1

-2
C B: 5
F
-1 3
E D D:
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
10 How many edges is
S A
the shortest path
8 1
from s to:
-4 B
G A: 3
2
1 1

-2
C B: 5
F
-1 3
E D D: 7
-1
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 
10
S A Iteration: 0
8 1


 G -4 B
2
1 1

-2 
F C


-1 3
E D
-1
 
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 10
10
S A Iteration: 1
8 1


8 -4 B
G
2
1 1

-2 
F C


-1 3
E D
-1
 
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 10
10
S A Iteration: 2
8 1


8 -4 B
G
2
1 1

-2 
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
12 
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 5
10
S A Iteration: 3
8 1
10

8 G -4 B A has the correct

2 distance and path
1 1

-2 
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
8 
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 5
10
S A Iteration: 4
8 1
6

8 -4 B
G
2
1 1

-2 11
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
7 
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 5
10
S A Iteration: 5
8 1
5

8 G -4 B B has the correct

2 distance and path
1 1

-2 7
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
7 14
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 5
10
S A Iteration: 6
8 1
5

8 -4 B
G
2
1 1

-2 6
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
7 10
Bellman-Ford algorithm
0 5
10
S A Iteration: 7
8 1
5

8 G -4 B D (and all other

2 nodes) have the
1 1 correct distance
and path
-2 6
F C
9

-1 3
E D
-1
7 9
Correctness of Bellman-Ford
• Loop invariant:
Correctness of Bellman-Ford
• Loop invariant: After iteration i, all vertices with
shortest paths from s of length i edges or less have
correct distances
Runtime of Bellman-Ford

O(|V| |E|)
Runtime of Bellman-Ford

Can you modify the algorithm to run

faster (in some circumstances)?
All pairs shortest paths
• Simple approach
• Call Bellman-Ford |V| times
• O(|V|2 |E|)
• Floyd-Warshall – Θ(|V|3)
• Johnson’s algorithm – O(|V|2 log |V| + |V| |E|)