What is the main difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* search algorithm
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the main difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* search algorithm?
A* uses heuristics to improve efficiency
Dijkstra's algorithm is faster
A* can only be used on trees
Dijkstra's algorithm is for unweighted graphs
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the main difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* search algorithm?
Step 1: Understand that both Dijkstra's algorithm and A* search algorithm are used to find the shortest path in a graph.
Step 2: Learn that Dijkstra's algorithm explores all possible paths from the starting point to find the shortest one without any guesswork.
Step 3: Recognize that A* search algorithm also finds the shortest path but uses a heuristic, which is a smart guess about how close a path is to the goal.
Step 4: Realize that the heuristic in A* helps it to focus on the most promising paths, making it faster and more efficient in many cases compared to Dijkstra's algorithm.
