tsort

What is tsort?

The 'tsort' npm package is a simple implementation of topological sorting. It is used to order elements based on their dependencies, ensuring that each element appears before any elements that depend on it. This is particularly useful in scenarios like task scheduling, resolving module dependencies, and organizing data with hierarchical relationships.

What are tsort's main functionalities?

Topological Sorting

This feature allows you to perform topological sorting on a set of elements with dependencies. In the code sample, 'a' depends on 'b', 'b' depends on 'c', and 'a' also depends on 'c'. The sorted output ensures that each element appears before any elements that depend on it.

const tsort = require('tsort');
const graph = tsort();
graph.add('a', 'b');
graph.add('b', 'c');
graph.add('a', 'c');
const sorted = graph.sort();
console.log(sorted); // Output: ['a', 'b', 'c']

Other packages similar to tsort

toposort

The 'toposort' package provides similar functionality for topological sorting. It allows you to sort elements based on their dependencies. Compared to 'tsort', 'toposort' offers a more modern API and better performance for larger datasets.

graphlib

The 'graphlib' package is a more comprehensive library for working with graphs, including topological sorting. It provides a rich set of features for creating, manipulating, and analyzing graphs. While 'tsort' focuses solely on topological sorting, 'graphlib' offers a broader range of graph-related functionalities.

dependency-graph

The 'dependency-graph' package is designed to manage and resolve dependencies between nodes. It includes topological sorting as one of its features. Compared to 'tsort', 'dependency-graph' provides additional capabilities for managing dependencies and detecting cycles.

README

tsort - node.js topological sort utility

npm install tsort

usage

var tsort = require('tsort');

// create an empty graph
var graph = tsort();

// add nodes
graph.add('a', 'b');
graph.add('b', 'c');
graph.add('0', 'a');

// outputs: [ '0', 'a', 'b', 'c' ]
console.dir(graph.sort());

// can add more than one node
graph.add('1', '2', '3', 'a');
// outputs: [ '0', '1', '2', '3', 'a', 'b', 'c' ]
console.dir(graph.sort());

// can add in array form
graph.add(['1', '1.5']);
graph.add(['1.5', 'a']);
// outputs: [ '0', '1', '2', '3', '1.5', 'a', 'b', 'c' ]
console.dir(graph.sort());

// detects cycles
graph.add('first', 'second');
graph.add('second', 'third', 'first');
// throws: Error: There is a cycle in the graph. It is not possible to derive a topological sort.
graph.sort();

#license MIT