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Traveling Salesman
Place cities on the canvas, then watch brute force or nearest-neighbor solve the route in real time.
4
cities
3
possible routes
—
routes checked
—
best distance
Add cities by clicking the canvas or using the buttons, then hit ▶ solve.
city
start city
trying this route
best so far
final best route
why does every new city make it so much harder?
| cities | calculation | routes to check | scale |
|---|
With 4 cities, you have 3 × 2 × 1 = 3 routes.
Add one more city and there are 4 places to slot it into the route — so the total multiplies by 4.
That's factorial growth: each new city multiplies the problem, not adds to it.
Add one more city and there are 4 places to slot it into the route — so the total multiplies by 4.
That's factorial growth: each new city multiplies the problem, not adds to it.