Distance (graph theory)

In graph theory, the **distance** between two vertices (or nodes) in a graph is defined as the length of the shortest path connecting them. The length of a path is typically measured by the number of edges it contains. Therefore, the distance \( d(u, v) \) between two vertices \( u \) and \( v \) is the minimum number of edges that need to be traversed to get from \( u \) to \( v \).