Which traversal method, BFS or DFS, is more memory efficient in a sparse graph?
Practice Questions
Q1
Which traversal method, BFS or DFS, is more memory efficient in a sparse graph?
BFS
DFS
Both are equal
Depends on the implementation
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Which traversal method, BFS or DFS, is more memory efficient in a sparse graph?
Step 1: Understand what BFS (Breadth-First Search) and DFS (Depth-First Search) are. BFS explores all neighbors at the present depth before moving on to nodes at the next depth level, while DFS explores as far as possible along one branch before backtracking.
Step 2: Recognize that a sparse graph has relatively few edges compared to the number of nodes. This means that not all nodes are connected to many others.
Step 3: In BFS, you need to keep track of all the nodes at the current level (all neighbors of the nodes you are exploring), which can require a lot of memory if the graph is wide.
Step 4: In DFS, you only need to keep track of the current path you are exploring and the nodes you have visited, which usually requires less memory, especially in sparse graphs.
Step 5: Conclude that since DFS does not need to store all neighbors at once, it is generally more memory efficient in sparse graphs.
