Applications, Advantages and Disadvantages of Directed Graph

Directed graphs are graphs that have directed edges between the nodes. If a directed edge points from u to v then, v is adjacent to u and u is adjacent to v. In the directed graph edges have directions and indicated with an arrow on edge. Directed graph is also known as Digraph. 

Directed Graph

Applications of Directed Graph:

• Directed graphs are used to find the shortest path.
• It can be used to analyze different models.
• It can be used to trace routes.

Real-Time Applications of Directed Graph:

• Directed graphs are used to find the shortest paths.
• It can be used to analyze electrical circuits.
• It can be used to construct models for analysis.
• It can be used to develop project schedules. 
• It is used in social networks in order to represent the relationships between individuals in a social network as a directed graph.
• It is used in web pages to represent links between web pages as a directed graph.
• It is used in compilers to represent the relationships between the elements of a programming language, such as the control flow of a program, as a directed graph.

Advantages of Directed Graph :

• In a directed graph, every edge represents a specific direction that provides a specific route or path.
• Route and shortest path can be traced efficiently.
• A directed graph can represent asymmetric relationships, such as one-way roads or one-way friendships, which cannot be represented by an undirected graph.
• A directed graph has efficient algorithms, such as topological sort, which can be used to solve problems that are difficult or impossible to solve with an undirected graph.

Disadvantages of Directed Graph:

• If the is an edge from u to v with an edge directed towards v we can traverse only from u to v with the help of this edge but we cannot go from v to u using this same edge.  
• Directed graph can be more complex to work with than an undirected graph, due to the added complexity of handling directed edges.
• Directed graph may not be suitable for certain types of problems, such as those that require symmetric relationships.
• Directed graph can be harder to visualize than an undirected graph, since the direction of the edges must be taken into account.