gen-briefly-explain-dijkstra-s-algorithm-and-one-common-misconce-ba2e

Briefly explain Dijkstra's algorithm and one common misconception about it.

# Dijkstra's Algorithm **What it does:** Dijkstra's algorithm finds the shortest path from a starting node to all other nodes in a weighted graph. It works by: 1. Starting at the source node with distance 0 2. Repeatedly selecting the unvisited node with the smallest known distance 3. Updating the distances to its neighbors 4. Marking it as visited This continues until all reachable nodes have been processed. ## Common Misconception **"Dijkstra's algorithm works with negative edge weights"** This is false. Dijkstra's algorithm requires all edge weights to be **non-negative**. With negative weights, the greedy assumption that once a node is visited its shortest path is finalized breaks down—a later path through negative edges could actually be shorter. For graphs with negative edges, you need algorithms like Bellman-Ford instead.