diameterprovide

Diameterprovide is a term used in computational geometry and software libraries to denote a module, function, or service that supplies the diameter of a given object. The diameter of a geometric object is the greatest distance between any pair of points within that object, while in graph theory it is the maximum shortest-path distance between any two nodes. Diameterprovide thus encompasses both geometric and graph-based contexts, often functioning as a unified API for retrieving the diameter value.

Inputs for diameterprovide can vary. In geometric scenarios, it accepts a set of coordinates (2D or 3D) representing points, or a polygonal shape such as a polygon or polyline. In graph contexts, it accepts a graph with nodes and edges, where edge weights define distances. The function returns a scalar distance, and in multi-object workflows it may produce a mapping from each input object to its corresponding diameter.

Algorithms behind diameterprovide differ by data type. For point sets and polygons, naive implementations compute all pairwise distances in O(n^2) time, while more efficient approaches leverage convex hull reductions and rotating calipers to compute the diameter of a convex polygon in linear time with respect to hull size. For graphs, diameter computation typically requires all-pairs shortest paths (e.g., Floyd-Warshall or repeated Dijkstra) to identify the maximum shortest-path distance, though approximate methods exist for large networks.

Implementation considerations include numeric precision, unit consistency, and handling degenerate cases such as coincident points or disconnected graphs. Documentation commonly specifies the supported input formats, tolerance levels, and behavior for empty or single-point inputs.

See also: diameter (geometry), graph diameter, eccentricity, rotating calipers, convex hull, all-pairs shortest path.