Graph Coloring

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What Does Graph Coloring Mean?

Graph coloring in computer science refers to coloring certain parts of a visual graph, often in digital form. However, IT professionals also use the term to talk about the particular constraint satisfaction problem or NP-complete problem of assigning specific colors to graph segments.

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Techopedia Explains Graph Coloring

The common scientific definition of graph coloring as a particular computer problem relates to a theoretical visual display graph. Here, a technology must assign a color to each node or part of the graph, with the additional rule that no two adjacent or connected parts can be assigned the same color. These constraints provide a computing problem through which professionals can assess the capability of a technology.

In addition to its use as a constraint problem, graph coloring as a technique is valuable for all sorts of visual dashboard and display software platforms, many of which are emerging in enterprise resource planning and similar tech industry segments. Color coding is a major part of the data visualization that provides companies the ability to digest big data that is aggregated and funneled through their software systems.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.