What is the BFS algorithm and how does it work?

What is the BFS algorithm and how does it work?

The BFS (Breadth-First Search) algorithm is a graph traversal method that explores all neighbors at the present depth before moving on to nodes at the next depth level.

Can you explain how BFS differs from DFS?

Sure! BFS explores nodes level by level, while DFS (Depth-First Search) goes as deep as possible down one branch before backtracking.

What are some practical applications of BFS?

BFS is used in various applications like finding the shortest path in unweighted graphs, web crawling, and social networking.

How do you implement BFS in Python?

You can implement BFS using a queue. Here's a simple example:

from collections import deque

def bfs(graph, start):
    visited = set()
    queue = deque([start])

    while queue:
        vertex = queue.popleft()
        if vertex not in visited:
            visited.add(vertex)
            queue.extend(neighbor for neighbor in graph[vertex] if neighbor not in visited)
    return visited