edgesharing

Edgesharing is a concept used in computer graphics, mesh processing, and graph-based systems to describe the practice of storing and using edge data in a single shared location rather than duplicating it across multiple components. In this approach, an edge is incident to one or more elements (such as faces or vertices) but is represented by one object that all concerned elements reference. This enables consistent access to edge attributes and reduces memory usage.

In mesh processing, edgesharing is commonly implemented with data structures that store one edge object and provide references from all adjacent faces or cells. Popular realizations include half-edge, winged-edge, and quad-edge representations. These structures facilitate efficient traversal and editing by allowing operations to update edge topology in a single place, with changes automatically reflected for all incident elements.

In graph-based systems and distributed processing, edgesharing refers to maintaining a single copy of an edge and its properties across partitions or components. This reduces duplication and synchronization overhead when multiple actors need to read or modify the same connection between vertices.

Advantages of edgesharing include memory efficiency, data consistency across connected elements, and easier maintenance of topology during edits. Challenges involve more complex data structures, potential pointer or reference overhead, and coordination requirements in parallel or distributed environments.

Related concepts include half-edge, winged-edge, and quad-edge data structures, as well as standard graph partitioning and mesh topology techniques. Edgesharing remains a foundational principle in systems where connections between elements are central to performance and integrity.