When we talk about graphs in computer science, we focus on two main parts: nodes and edges. Let’s break these down!

Nodes

1. What Are They?: Nodes, sometimes called vertices, are like the dots on a graph. Think of social media; each user is a node.
2. What Do They Do?: They stand for things or people in the system. For example, if you have a school project graph, each student or project can be a node.

Edges

1. What Are They?: Edges are the lines between the nodes. They show how nodes connect or interact with each other.
2. What Do They Do?: In social media, edges can show friendships or connections between users. In our school project example, edges might link students to the projects they’re working on.

Visual Representation

To visualize graphs, you can:

• Draw circles for nodes.
• Draw lines between the circles for edges.

This is a simple way to see how everything connects!

Types of Graphs

• Directed Graphs: The edges point one way. If A is friends with B, that doesn’t mean B is friends with A.
• Undirected Graphs: If there’s a connection, it goes both ways. If A is connected to B, then B is connected to A.

Using Graphs

There are several ways to explore graphs. The two most common methods are:

• Depth-First Search (DFS): This means going as far as you can along each path before going back to check others.
• Breadth-First Search (BFS): This means looking at all the neighbors at one level before moving deeper.

Understanding graphs is important in computer science, especially for algorithms and data structures! They are used everywhere, like mapping out social networks or organizing databases.