The Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm (named after Edsger W. Dijkstra and Carel S. Scholten) is an algorithm for detecting termination in a distributed system. The algorithm was proposed by Dijkstra and Scholten in 1980. First, consider the case of a simple process graph which is a tree. A distributed computation which is tree-structured is not uncommon. Such a process graph may arise when the computation is strictly a divide-and-conquer type. A node starts the computation and divides the problem in two (or more, usually a multiple of 2) roughly equal parts and distribute those parts to other processors. This process continues recursively until the problems are of sufficiently small size to solve in a single processor.

Algorithm

The Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm is a tree-based algorithm which can be described by the following:

Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm for a tree

Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm for directed acyclic graphs

Dijkstra–Scholten algorithm for cyclic directed graphs