Oleksii Trekhleb | Javascript algorithms (Hamiltonian path)

Hamiltonian path (or traceable path) is a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian cycle (or Hamiltonian circuit) is a Hamiltonian path that is a cycle. Determining whether such paths and cycles exist in graphs is the Hamiltonian path problem.

One possible Hamiltonian cycle through every vertex of a dodecahedron is shown in red – like all platonic solids, the dodecahedron is Hamiltonian.

Naive Algorithm

Generate all possible configurations of vertices and print a configuration that satisfies the given constraints. There will be n! (n factorial) configurations.

while there are untried configurations
{
   generate the next configuration
   if ( there are edges between two consecutive vertices of this
      configuration and there is an edge from the last vertex to       the first ).
   {
      print this configuration;
      break;
   }
}

Backtracking Algorithm

Create an empty path array and add vertex 0 to it. Add other vertices, starting from the vertex 1. Before adding a vertex, check for whether it is adjacent to the previously added vertex and not already added. If we find such a vertex, we add the vertex as part of the solution. If we do not find a vertex then we return false.