Which algorithm+representation should I use for finding minimum path distance in a huge sparse undirected graph?

Question

I need to find the minimum distance between two nodes in a undirected graph, here are some details

• The graph is undirected and huge(no of nodes is in order of 100,000)
• The graph is sparse, no of edges is less than no of nodes
• I am not interested in the actual path, just the distance.

What representation and algorithm should I use for a) Space efficiency b)time efficiency?

EDIT: If it matters,

• The wieghts are all non zero positive integers.
• No node connects to itself.
• Only single edge between two adjacent nodes

Answer 1

It depends on the weights of the edges. If they are non-negative - Dijkstra suits you. If your graph is planar, you can use A*.

If you have negative weights, you have to use Bellman-Ford.