CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonnetworkx
AngusTheMan
AngusTheMan

Reputation: 582

Why does networkx have so many random graph generators?

Networkx appears to have a lot of random graph generators. Why are there so many and which should I choose?

fast_gnp_random_graph,

gnp_random_graph

dense_gnm_random_graph

gnm_random_graph

erdos_renyi_graph

binomial_graph

https://networkx.github.io/documentation/stable/reference/generators.html

Upvotes: 2

Views: 612

Answers (1)

Phil
Phil

Reputation: 185

Some of them really are identical – i.e. just aliases for the purpose of convenience. E.g. gnp_random_graph = binomial_graph = erdos_renyi_graph.

They all generate the same type of graph but some use different algorithms that perform better or worse depending on the parameters/properties of your graph (size, density, ...). So there is no single best choice. (Even if there were, it may be of academic interest to some people to also have alternate algorithms available – e.g. for speed comparisons.)

Some also differ in the way you define/paramerterize your graph. E.g. Some use the number of nodes and the probability to grow an edge, while others are defined by the number of nodes and the number of edges.

Depending on your application one may be preferable to the other.

Upvotes: 3

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