degenerates into a FIFO queue. The fast marching method can be viewed as a continuous version of Dijkstra's algorithm which computes the geodesic distance on a triangle mesh. Dynamic programming perspective From a dynamic programming point of view, Dijkstra's algorithm is a successive approximation scheme that solves the dynamic programming functional equation for the shortest path problem by the Reaching method. In fact, Dijkstra's explanation of the logic behind the algorithm, namely is a paraphrasing of Bellman's famous Principle of Optimality in the context of the shortest path problem. Applications Least-cost paths are calculated for instance to establish tracks of electricity lines or oil pipelines. The algorithm has also been used to calculate optimal long-distance footpaths in Ethiopia and contrast them with the situation on the ground. See also A* search algorithm Bellman–Ford algorithm Euclidean shortest path Floyd–Warshall algorithm Johnson's algorithm Longest path problem Parallel all-pairs shortest path algorithm Notes References External links Oral history interview with Edsger W. Dijkstra, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm using TDD, Robert Cecil Martin, The Clean Code Blog Algorithm 1959 in computing Graph algorithms Search algorithms Routing algorithms Combinatorial optimization Articles with example pseudocode Dutch inventions Graph distance