Breadth-First Search (BFS)

Speed:

How Breadth-First Search Works

1. Initialize

Add the start node to the queue and mark it as visited.

💡 Pro Tip: The queue begins with the start node.

2. Visit Node

Remove the front node from the queue and explore its neighbors.

💡 Pro Tip: Nodes are visited in order of their distance from the start.

3. Add Neighbors

For each unvisited neighbor, mark as visited, set its previous node, and add to the queue.

💡 Pro Tip: Neighbors are added to the queue for future exploration.

4. Repeat

Continue until the end node is found or the queue is empty.

💡 Pro Tip: The process repeats until the shortest path is found or no path exists.

5. Reconstruct Path

Trace back from the end node to the start node to get the shortest path.

💡 Pro Tip: The shortest path is highlighted.

Key Concepts

Queue

BFS uses a queue to explore nodes in order of their distance from the start.

Layered Exploration

Nodes are visited level by level, ensuring the shortest path in unweighted graphs.

Shortest Path

BFS always finds the shortest path in unweighted graphs.

Legend

Start Node

Click and drag to move

End Node

Click and drag to move

Wall

Click to add/remove

Visited Nodes

Shortest Path

How to Use

1. Create Your Maze

Click or drag on the grid to add or remove walls

2. Position Start & End

Drag the green and red nodes to set start and end points

3. Visualize

Click "Visualize BFS" to find the shortest path

4. Experiment

Try different mazes and see how BFS finds the path

About BFS

Breadth-First Search (BFS) explores nodes in layers and always finds the shortest path in unweighted graphs.

⚡

Shortest Path

Always finds the shortest path in unweighted graphs

🧠

Layered

Explores nodes level by level

🎯

Simple

Easy to implement and understand

Breadth-First Search always finds the shortest path in an unweighted grid. "Queue" is used to explore nodes in order of distance.