Graphs and Network Algorithms · Minimum Spanning Trees
Prim's algorithm grows a minimum spanning tree outward from a starting vertex by repeatedly choosing the cheapest crossing edge.
Student Focus
We teach Prim as the vertex-frontier view of minimum spanning trees.
Guided Lesson Notes
This guide helps students understand the idea, implement it carefully, explain the runtime, and recognize when the pattern belongs in a larger problem.
In a session, students usually start with a small trace, then write or review code, then test edge cases. The final step is a short explanation: what the structure or algorithm stores, why it is correct, and what changes when the input grows.
Tutoring Connection
Students can use this page before a lesson, after a difficult homework assignment, or while preparing for AP Computer Science A extensions, Advanced Topics in CS, USACO growth, or a college data structures course.
