DIMACS Implementation Challenges

This website has been archived and is no longer actively maintained
To learn about more recent Implementation Challenges, go to the new Implementation Challenge website.


The DIMACS Implementation Challenges address questions of determining realistic algorithm performance where worst case analysis is overly pessimistic and probabilistic models are too unrealistic: experimentation can provide guides to realistic algorithm performance where analysis fails. Experimentation also brings algorithmic questions closer to the original problems that motivated theoretical work. It also tests many assumptions about implementation methods and data structures. It provides an opportunity to develop and test problem instances, instance generators, and other methods of testing and comparing performance of algorithms. And it is a step in technology transfer by providing leading edge implementations of algorithms for others to adapt.

The information on challenges includes pointers to WWW/FTP sites that include calls for participation, algorithm implementations, instance generators, bibliographies, and other electronic artifacts. The challenge organizers are also producing refereed volumes in the AMS-DIMACS book series; these contain selected papers from the workshops that culminate each challenge.

If you are using the implementations, generators or other files, please take a few minutes to tell us how you are using it, what applications you are working on, and how it impacts your work. We need to document the impact of this research to the agencies and foundations that support it - your stories are essential to doing that. Send comments to: froberts@dimacs.rutgers.edu

The Famous DIMACS Graph Format

Quite a few research papers have been referring to the DIMACS graph format. The first Challenge used networks (directed graphs with edge and node capacities) and undirected graphs (for matching), and the second Challenge used undirected graph. Extending these formats to directed graphs should be straightforward. Specifications for the Challenge 1 formats are available by anonymous ftp (or through the DIMACS web page Previous Challenges) in

The Challenges:













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Document last modified on October 31, 2017.