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graphpathtraveling-salesmanchinese-postman

What's the difference between traveling salesman and chinese traveling?


What's the difference between travelling salesman problem (TSP) and Chinese postman problem (CPP)?

For me, both wants go to a destination, and then back.


Solution

  • The travelling salesman problem is about going to each city once and taking the shortest route.

    The Chinese postman problem is about getting a path from each city to each other city.

    E.g., with points A, B, C, and D, the travelling salesman could go A-B-C-D-A, but the Chinese postman would go need a route that had A-B and A-C and A-D, etc.

    The travelling salesman route does not have a direct between each point (in the above example there is no A-C link).

    Each city is a vertex and each inter-city link is an edge. So, I think I'm just restating Xodarap's answer.