From: Yossef Mendelssohn <ymendel@...>
Date: 2009-10-31T00:30:44+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby Challenge for Beginners #3 - Short Circuit

On Oct 30, 6:04 am, Paul Smith <p...@pollyandpaul.co.uk> wrote:
> The problem statement might be flawed by trying to frame it in an
> electrical context.  The author uses the phrase "Electricity always
> follows the path of least resistance" but I understood that current
> could flow down multiple routes in proportion inverse to the
> resistances, i.e. that if one path had a 10% higher resistance, it
> would receive 10% less current, not that all current would flow
> through the less resistive(?) path.
>
> Feel free to correct my knowledge of physics and electrical engineering though.
>
> I think the problem is just looking for a simple shortest path
> algorithm  Dijkstra or something.

I think the challenge also suffers from a disconnect between the
apparently intended goal and the stated goal. To solve the problem,
you need to go through the effort of finding the shortest path; rather
than return this path as the solution, you need to indicate which
segments are *not* part of the path.

--
-yossef