[derefr]

No, it doesn't mean objects in the object-oriented sense. It means something more like "don't build an array and then iterate through it to get the minimum item, if you could just build a minheap." I.e., if you can, use data structures that do the heavy lifting of your algorithms "for free."

[wging]

Total tangent, but it occurs to me that if all you want is the minimum item, you maybe don't even need a minheap. You can just keep a single item--the smallest--and replace the operation of adding to the array with the operation of compare-and-possibly-replace.

[AgentME]

As long as you don't need to remove items or update their costs often.