GATE CSE 2025 Session 2 Q17: Match routing protocols to their shortest-path algorithms

Consider the routing protocols given in List I and the names given in List II:

List I	List II
(i) Distance vector routing	(a) Bellman-Ford
(ii) Link state routing	(b) Dijkstra

For matching of items in List I with those in List II, which ONE of the following options is CORRECT?

Try it: multiple choice: exactly one correct option

Wrong answer costs 1/3 mark in GATE.

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Answer: A (official GATE 2025 final answer key)

Concept used: Distance vector uses distributed Bellman-Ford; link state floods the topology and runs Dijkstra locally.

First step: Ask which algorithm needs the whole topology (Dijkstra) and which only neighbours' distance vectors (Bellman-Ford).

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Source: official GATE 2025 Session 2 CS question paper and final answer key, organised by IIT Roorkee. Question paper · Answer key