In this tutorial, you will learn how Kruskal’s Algorithm works. Likewise, you will discover working instances of Kruskal’s Algorithm in C, C++, Java, and Python.
Kruskal algorithm is a minimum spanning tree algorithm that takes a graph as input and finds the subset of the edges of that graph which
• form a tree that incorporates each vertex
• has the minimum sum of weights among every one of the trees that can be formed from the graph
In this article, you will learn-
How Kruskal’s algorithm works
It falls under a class of algorithms considered greedy algorithms that track down the local optimum in the hopes of tracking down a global optimum.
We start from the edges with the least weight and continue to add edges until we arrive at our objective.
The steps for implementing Kruskal algorithm are as follows:
- Sort every one of the edges from low weight to high
- Take the edge with the lowest weight and add it to the spanning tree. On the off chance that adding the edge created a cycle, reject this edge.
- Continue to add edges until we arrive at all vertices.
Example of Kruskal’s algorithm
Kruskal Algorithm Pseudocode
Any minimum spanning tree algorithm resolves around checking if adding an edge creates a loop or not.
The most well-known approach to track down this out is an algorithm called Union FInd. The Union-Find algorithm divides the vertices into clusters and allows us to check if two vertices have a place with a similar cluster or not and thus choose whether adding an edge creates a cycle.
KRUSKAL(G):
A = ∅
For each vertex v ∈ G.V:
MAKE-SET(v)
For each edge (u, v) ∈ G.E ordered by increasing order by weight(u, v):
if FIND-SET(u) ≠ FIND-SET(v):
A = A ∪ {(u, v)}
UNION(u, v)
return A
Python, Java, and C/C++ Examples
Python
# Kruskal's algorithm in Python
class Graph:
def __init__(self, vertices):
self.V = vertices
self.graph = []
def add_edge(self, u, v, w):
self.graph.append([u, v, w])
# Search function
def find(self, parent, i):
if parent[i] == i:
return i
return self.find(parent, parent[i])
def apply_union(self, parent, rank, x, y):
xroot = self.find(parent, x)
yroot = self.find(parent, y)
if rank[xroot] < rank[yroot]:
parent[xroot] = yroot
elif rank[xroot] > rank[yroot]:
parent[yroot] = xroot
else:
parent[yroot] = xroot
rank[xroot] += 1
# Applying Kruskal algorithm
def kruskal_algo(self):
result = []
i, e = 0, 0
self.graph = sorted(self.graph, key=lambda item: item[2])
parent = []
rank = []
for node in range(self.V):
parent.append(node)
rank.append(0)
while e < self.V - 1:
u, v, w = self.graph[i]
i = i + 1
x = self.find(parent, u)
y = self.find(parent, v)
if x != y:
e = e + 1
result.append([u, v, w])
self.apply_union(parent, rank, x, y)
for u, v, weight in result:
print("%d - %d: %d" % (u, v, weight))
g = Graph(6)
g.add_edge(0, 1, 4)
g.add_edge(0, 2, 4)
g.add_edge(1, 2, 2)
g.add_edge(1, 0, 4)
g.add_edge(2, 0, 4)
g.add_edge(2, 1, 2)
g.add_edge(2, 3, 3)
g.add_edge(2, 5, 2)
g.add_edge(2, 4, 4)
g.add_edge(3, 2, 3)
g.add_edge(3, 4, 3)
g.add_edge(4, 2, 4)
g.add_edge(4, 3, 3)
g.add_edge(5, 2, 2)
g.add_edge(5, 4, 3)
g.kruskal_algo()
Java
// Kruskal's algorithm in Java
import java.util.*;
class Graph {
class Edge implements Comparable<Edge> {
int src, dest, weight;
public int compareTo(Edge compareEdge) {
return this.weight - compareEdge.weight;
}
};
// Union
class subset {
int parent, rank;
};
int vertices, edges;
Edge edge[];
// Graph creation
Graph(int v, int e) {
vertices = v;
edges = e;
edge = new Edge[edges];
for (int i = 0; i < e; ++i)
edge[i] = new Edge();
}
int find(subset subsets[], int i) {
if (subsets[i].parent != i)
subsets[i].parent = find(subsets, subsets[i].parent);
return subsets[i].parent;
}
void Union(subset subsets[], int x, int y) {
int xroot = find(subsets, x);
int yroot = find(subsets, y);
if (subsets[xroot].rank < subsets[yroot].rank)
subsets[xroot].parent = yroot;
else if (subsets[xroot].rank > subsets[yroot].rank)
subsets[yroot].parent = xroot;
else {
subsets[yroot].parent = xroot;
subsets[xroot].rank++;
}
}
// Applying Krushkal Algorithm
void KruskalAlgo() {
Edge result[] = new Edge[vertices];
int e = 0;
int i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < vertices; ++i)
result[i] = new Edge();
// Sorting the edges
Arrays.sort(edge);
subset subsets[] = new subset[vertices];
for (i = 0; i < vertices; ++i)
subsets[i] = new subset();
for (int v = 0; v < vertices; ++v) {
subsets[v].parent = v;
subsets[v].rank = 0;
}
i = 0;
while (e < vertices - 1) {
Edge next_edge = new Edge();
next_edge = edge[i++];
int x = find(subsets, next_edge.src);
int y = find(subsets, next_edge.dest);
if (x != y) {
result[e++] = next_edge;
Union(subsets, x, y);
}
}
for (i = 0; i < e; ++i)
System.out.println(result[i].src + " - " + result[i].dest + ": " + result[i].weight);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int vertices = 6; // Number of vertices
int edges = 8; // Number of edges
Graph G = new Graph(vertices, edges);
G.edge[0].src = 0;
G.edge[0].dest = 1;
G.edge[0].weight = 4;
G.edge[1].src = 0;
G.edge[1].dest = 2;
G.edge[1].weight = 4;
G.edge[2].src = 1;
G.edge[2].dest = 2;
G.edge[2].weight = 2;
G.edge[3].src = 2;
G.edge[3].dest = 3;
G.edge[3].weight = 3;
G.edge[4].src = 2;
G.edge[4].dest = 5;
G.edge[4].weight = 2;
G.edge[5].src = 2;
G.edge[5].dest = 4;
G.edge[5].weight = 4;
G.edge[6].src = 3;
G.edge[6].dest = 4;
G.edge[6].weight = 3;
G.edge[7].src = 5;
G.edge[7].dest = 4;
G.edge[7].weight = 3;
G.KruskalAlgo();
}
}
C
// Kruskal's algorithm in C
#include <stdio.h>
#define MAX 30
typedef struct edge {
int u, v, w;
} edge;
typedef struct edge_list {
edge data[MAX];
int n;
} edge_list;
edge_list elist;
int Graph[MAX][MAX], n;
edge_list spanlist;
void kruskalAlgo();
int find(int belongs[], int vertexno);
void applyUnion(int belongs[], int c1, int c2);
void sort();
void print();
// Applying Krushkal Algo
void kruskalAlgo() {
int belongs[MAX], i, j, cno1, cno2;
elist.n = 0;
for (i = 1; i < n; i++)
for (j = 0; j < i; j++) {
if (Graph[i][j] != 0) {
elist.data[elist.n].u = i;
elist.data[elist.n].v = j;
elist.data[elist.n].w = Graph[i][j];
elist.n++;
}
}
sort();
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
belongs[i] = i;
spanlist.n = 0;
for (i = 0; i < elist.n; i++) {
cno1 = find(belongs, elist.data[i].u);
cno2 = find(belongs, elist.data[i].v);
if (cno1 != cno2) {
spanlist.data[spanlist.n] = elist.data[i];
spanlist.n = spanlist.n + 1;
applyUnion(belongs, cno1, cno2);
}
}
}
int find(int belongs[], int vertexno) {
return (belongs[vertexno]);
}
void applyUnion(int belongs[], int c1, int c2) {
int i;
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
if (belongs[i] == c2)
belongs[i] = c1;
}
// Sorting algo
void sort() {
int i, j;
edge temp;
for (i = 1; i < elist.n; i++)
for (j = 0; j < elist.n - 1; j++)
if (elist.data[j].w > elist.data[j + 1].w) {
temp = elist.data[j];
elist.data[j] = elist.data[j + 1];
elist.data[j + 1] = temp;
}
}
// Printing the result
void print() {
int i, cost = 0;
for (i = 0; i < spanlist.n; i++) {
printf("\n%d - %d : %d", spanlist.data[i].u, spanlist.data[i].v, spanlist.data[i].w);
cost = cost + spanlist.data[i].w;
}
printf("\nSpanning tree cost: %d", cost);
}
int main() {
int i, j, total_cost;
n = 6;
Graph[0][0] = 0;
Graph[0][1] = 4;
Graph[0][2] = 4;
Graph[0][3] = 0;
Graph[0][4] = 0;
Graph[0][5] = 0;
Graph[0][6] = 0;
Graph[1][0] = 4;
Graph[1][1] = 0;
Graph[1][2] = 2;
Graph[1][3] = 0;
Graph[1][4] = 0;
Graph[1][5] = 0;
Graph[1][6] = 0;
Graph[2][0] = 4;
Graph[2][1] = 2;
Graph[2][2] = 0;
Graph[2][3] = 3;
Graph[2][4] = 4;
Graph[2][5] = 0;
Graph[2][6] = 0;
Graph[3][0] = 0;
Graph[3][1] = 0;
Graph[3][2] = 3;
Graph[3][3] = 0;
Graph[3][4] = 3;
Graph[3][5] = 0;
Graph[3][6] = 0;
Graph[4][0] = 0;
Graph[4][1] = 0;
Graph[4][2] = 4;
Graph[4][3] = 3;
Graph[4][4] = 0;
Graph[4][5] = 0;
Graph[4][6] = 0;
Graph[5][0] = 0;
Graph[5][1] = 0;
Graph[5][2] = 2;
Graph[5][3] = 0;
Graph[5][4] = 3;
Graph[5][5] = 0;
Graph[5][6] = 0;
kruskalAlgo();
print();
}
C++
// Kruskal's algorithm in C++
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
#define edge pair<int, int>
class Graph {
private:
vector<pair<int, edge> > G; // graph
vector<pair<int, edge> > T; // mst
int *parent;
int V; // number of vertices/nodes in graph
public:
Graph(int V);
void AddWeightedEdge(int u, int v, int w);
int find_set(int i);
void union_set(int u, int v);
void kruskal();
void print();
};
Graph::Graph(int V) {
parent = new int[V];
//i 0 1 2 3 4 5
//parent[i] 0 1 2 3 4 5
for (int i = 0; i < V; i++)
parent[i] = i;
G.clear();
T.clear();
}
void Graph::AddWeightedEdge(int u, int v, int w) {
G.push_back(make_pair(w, edge(u, v)));
}
int Graph::find_set(int i) {
// If i is the parent of itself
if (i == parent[i])
return i;
else
// Else if i is not the parent of itself
// Then i is not the representative of his set,
// so we recursively call Find on its parent
return find_set(parent[i]);
}
void Graph::union_set(int u, int v) {
parent[u] = parent[v];
}
void Graph::kruskal() {
int i, uRep, vRep;
sort(G.begin(), G.end()); // increasing weight
for (i = 0; i < G.size(); i++) {
uRep = find_set(G[i].second.first);
vRep = find_set(G[i].second.second);
if (uRep != vRep) {
T.push_back(G[i]); // add to tree
union_set(uRep, vRep);
}
}
}
void Graph::print() {
cout << "Edge :"
<< " Weight" << endl;
for (int i = 0; i < T.size(); i++) {
cout << T[i].second.first << " - " << T[i].second.second << " : "
<< T[i].first;
cout << endl;
}
}
int main() {
Graph g(6);
g.AddWeightedEdge(0, 1, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(0, 2, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(1, 2, 2);
g.AddWeightedEdge(1, 0, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(2, 0, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(2, 1, 2);
g.AddWeightedEdge(2, 3, 3);
g.AddWeightedEdge(2, 5, 2);
g.AddWeightedEdge(2, 4, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(3, 2, 3);
g.AddWeightedEdge(3, 4, 3);
g.AddWeightedEdge(4, 2, 4);
g.AddWeightedEdge(4, 3, 3);
g.AddWeightedEdge(5, 2, 2);
g.AddWeightedEdge(5, 4, 3);
g.kruskal();
g.print();
return 0;
}
Kruskal’s versus Prim’s Algorithm
Prim’s algorith is another famous minimum spanning tree algorithm that uses an alternate rationale to discover the MST of a graph. Rather than beginning from an edge, Prim’s algorithm begins from a vertex and continues to add the least weight edges which aren’t in the tree, until all vertices have been covered.
Kruskal’s Algorithm Complexity
The time complexity Of Kruskal’s Algorithm is: O(E log E).
Kruskal’s Algorithm Applications
- In order to layout electrical wiring
- In computer network (LAN connection)
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