In which scenario would BFS be preferred over DFS?
Practice Questions
Q1
In which scenario would BFS be preferred over DFS?
Finding the shortest path in an unweighted graph
Finding a path in a maze
Topological sorting
Finding connected components
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
In which scenario would BFS be preferred over DFS?
Step 1: Understand what BFS (Breadth-First Search) and DFS (Depth-First Search) are. BFS explores all neighbors of a node before going deeper, while DFS goes as deep as possible down one path before backtracking.
Step 2: Identify the type of graph you are working with. If it is an unweighted graph, this means all edges have the same weight or cost.
Step 3: Consider what you are trying to find. If you need the shortest path from one node to another, BFS is the better choice.
Step 4: Remember that BFS explores all nodes at the current depth level before moving to the next level. This ensures that the first time it reaches a node, it has found the shortest path to that node.
Step 5: Conclude that in scenarios where finding the shortest path in an unweighted graph is important, BFS is preferred over DFS.
