7.6. Implementation

Using dictionaries, it is easy to implement the adjacency list in Python. In our implementation of the graph abstract data type we will create two classes: Vertex, which will represent each vertex in the graph (see Listing 1) and Graph, which holds the master list of vertices (see Listing 2).

Each Vertex uses a dictionary to keep track of the vertices to which it is connected and the weight of each edge. This dictionary is called neighbors. The listing below shows the code for the Vertex class. The constructor simply initializes the key, which will typically be a string, and the neighbors dictionary. The set_neighbor method is used to add a connection from this vertex to another. The get_neighbors method returns all of the vertices in the adjacency list, as represented by the neighbors instance variable. The get_neighbor method returns the weight of the edge from this vertex to the vertex passed as a parameter.

Listing 1

class Vertex:
    def __init__(self, key):
        self.key = key
        self.neighbors = {}

    def get_neighbor(self, other):
        return self.neighbors.get(other, None)

    def set_neighbor(self, other, weight=0):
        self.neighbors[other] = weight

    def __repr__(self):
        return f"Vertex({self.key})"

    def __str__(self):
        return (
            str(self.key)
            + " connected to: "
            + str([x.key for x in self.neighbors])
        )

    def get_neighbors(self):
        return self.neighbors.keys()

    def get_key(self):
        return self.key

The Graph class, shown in the next listing, contains a dictionary that maps vertex names to vertex objects. In Figure 4 this dictionary object is represented by the shaded gray box. Graph also provides methods for adding vertices to a graph and connecting one vertex to another. The get_vertices method returns the names of all of the vertices in the graph. In addition, we have implemented the __iter__ method to make it easy to iterate over all the vertex objects in a particular graph. Together, the two methods allow you to iterate over the vertices in a graph by name, or by the objects themselves.

Listing 2

class Graph:
    def __init__(self):
        self.vertices = {}

    def set_vertex(self, key):
        self.vertices[key] = Vertex(key)

    def get_vertex(self, key):
        return self.vertices.get(key, None)

    def __contains__(self, key):
        return key in self.vertices

    def add_edge(self, from_vert, to_vert, weight=0):
        if from_vert not in self.vertices:
            self.set_vertex(from_vert)
        if to_vert not in self.vertices:
            self.set_vertex(to_vert)
        self.vertices[from_vert].set_neighbor(self.vertices[to_vert], weight)

    def get_vertices(self):
        return self.vertices.keys()

    def __iter__(self):
        return iter(self.vertices.values())

Using the Graph and Vertex classes just defined, the following Python session creates the graph in Figure 2. First we create six vertices numbered 0 through 5. Then we display the vertex dictionary. Notice that for each key 0 through 5 we have created an instance of a Vertex. Next, we add the edges that connect the vertices together. Finally, a nested loop verifies that each edge in the graph is properly stored. You should check the output of the edge list at the end of this session against Figure 2.

>>> g = Graph()
>>> for i in range(6):
...     g.set_vertex(i)
>>> g.vertices
{0: Vertex(0), 1: Vertex(1), 2: Vertex(2), 3: Vertex(3), 4: Vertex(4), 5: Vertex(5)}
>>> g.add_edge(0, 1, 5)
>>> g.add_edge(0, 5, 2)
>>> g.add_edge(1, 2, 4)
>>> g.add_edge(2, 3, 9)
>>> g.add_edge(3, 4, 7)
>>> g.add_edge(3, 5, 3)
>>> g.add_edge(4, 0, 1)
>>> g.add_edge(5, 4, 8)
>>> g.add_edge(5, 2, 1)
>>> for v in g:
...     for w in v.get_neighbors():
...         print("f({v.get_key()}, {w.get_key()})")
...
(0, 1)
(0, 5)
(1, 2)
(2, 3)
(3, 4)
(3, 5)
(4, 0)
(5, 4)
(5, 2)
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