Network flow algorithms help us move resources efficiently through a network.

Think of the network like a set of pipes. These pipes have a certain size, which limits how much can flow through them.

Here are some important parts of this idea:

• Source: This is where the resource starts.
• Sink: This is where the resource ends up.
• Flow: This tells us how much resource is moving through the network.

There are two well-known methods to handle this flow:

1. Ford-Fulkerson Method: This method finds ways to add more flow through the network.
2. Edmonds-Karp Algorithm: This is a version of the Ford-Fulkerson method. It uses a technique called BFS (Breadth-First Search) to find paths more quickly.

For example, imagine you have a network with a source (let's call it $s$) and a sink (let's call it $t$). There are pipes (or edges) connecting them, each with their own limits on how much they can carry. The main goal is to get as much flow as possible from $s$ to $t$, without exceeding these limits.