List Connection

artist has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Dear Monks
I have several lists with different items in them. In the list, the items doesn't repeat. An item can exist in the multiple list. Given 2 items, I like to find lists connecting these 2 items. There could be several path and I like to know different possibility, starting with the shortest-path.

Update: Ahh: Sorry if it looked like a homework question.( I just passed the Turing test) Certainly this is not a homework. This is for the project I am working on. I think that several CPAN modules can do the trick. Ultimately I like to find path from point A to B which can involve multiple pre-defined nodes. I also like to find out the path where given any 2 nodes to connect, the path should that should be taken have adjacent lists with maximum common elements ( rather than just one ) if possible.
Think of this as DNS routing problem. It is also close to traveling salesman problem. I like to probably learn from the other threads having similar problems.

--Artist

Comment on List Connection

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: List Connection by JavaFan (Canon) on Oct 16, 2008 at 12:15 UTC
Consider each list to be a node in a graph. Between two nodes there's an edge, if and only if both lists have an item in common. Now your problem can be solved by using Dijkstra's algorithm. Does this help with your homework?	[reply]
Re^2: List Connection by artist (Parson) on Oct 16, 2008 at 17:37 UTC
Ahh: Sorry if it looked like a homework question.( I just passed the Turing test) Certainly this is not a homework. This is for the project I am working on. I think that several CPAN modules can do the trick. Ultimately I like to find path from point A to B which can involve multiple pre-defined nodes. I also like to find out the path where given any 2 nodes to connect, the path should that should be taken have adjacent lists with maximum common elements ( rather than just one ) if possible. Think of this as DNS routing problem. It is also close to traveling salesman problem. I like to probably learn from the other threads having similar problems. --Artist	[reply] [d/l]
Re: List Connection by svenXY (Deacon) on Oct 16, 2008 at 11:57 UTC
smells a lot like homework... What have you tried yourself so far? Cheers, Sven	[reply]


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