Which of the following scenarios is BFS preferred over DFS?
Practice Questions
Q1
Which of the following scenarios is BFS preferred over DFS?
Finding the shortest path in an unweighted graph
Exploring all possible paths
Finding a cycle in a graph
Topological sorting
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Which of the following scenarios is BFS preferred over DFS?
Step 1: Understand what BFS (Breadth-First Search) and DFS (Depth-First Search) are. BFS explores all neighbors at the current depth before moving deeper, while DFS goes as deep as possible down one path before backtracking.
Step 2: Identify the type of graph you are working with. In this case, we are looking at an unweighted graph, which means all edges have the same weight or cost.
Step 3: Recognize that BFS is useful for finding the shortest path in an unweighted graph. This is because it explores all possible paths level by level, ensuring that the first time it reaches a node, it has found the shortest path to that node.
Step 4: Compare this with DFS, which may find a path quickly but does not guarantee that it is the shortest path, as it may go deep down one path before exploring others.
Step 5: Conclude that in scenarios where you need to find the shortest path in an unweighted graph, BFS is preferred over DFS.
