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What does "breadth-first search" mean in programming?
breadth-first search is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
A graph traversal algorithm that explores all neighbors of a node before moving to the next level. Uses a queue to track the next nodes to visit. BFS finds the shortest path in an unweighted graph and is used in social network friend suggestions.
Example
"BFS on a tree visits all nodes level by level: root first, then its children, then grandchildren."
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