Artificial Intelligence

Problem solving by searching

CSC 361

Dr. Yousef Al-Ohali

Computer Science Depart.
CCIS – King Saud University
Saudi Arabia

[email protected]
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/YAlohali
Problem Solving by Searching

Search Methods :
Uninformed (Blind) search
Search Methods
 Once we have defined the problem space (state representation, the initial state, the
goal state and operators) is all done?

 Let’s consider the River Problem:

A farmer wishes to carry a wolf, a duck and corn across a river, from the south to the
north shore. The farmer is the proud owner of a small rowing boat called Bounty
which he feels is easily up to the job. Unfortunately the boat is only large enough to
carry at most the farmer and one other item. Worse again, if left unattended the wolf
will eat the duck and the duck will eat the corn.

River

boat
Farmer, Wolf,
Duck and Corn
How can the farmer safely transport the wolf, the duck and the corn to the opposite
shore?
3
Search Methods
 The River Problem:
F=Farmer W=Wolf D=Duck C=Corn /=River

-/FWCD

FWCD/-

How can the farmer safely transport the wolf, the duck and
the corn to the opposite shore?
4
Search Methods
 Problem formulation:

 State representation: location of farmer and items in both sides of river

[items in South shore / items in North shore] : (FWDC/-, FD/WC, C/FWD …)

 Initial State: farmer, wolf, duck and corn in the south shore FWDC/-

 Goal State: farmer, duck and corn in the north shore

-/FWDC

 Operators: the farmer takes in the boat at most one item from one side to
the other side
(F-Takes-W, F-Takes-D, F-Takes-C, F-Takes-Self [himself only])

 Path cost: the number of crossings

5
Search Methods
 State space:
A problem is solved by moving from the initial state to the goal state by applying valid
operators in sequence. Thus the state space is the set of states reachable from a particular
initial state.
F WD C
Initial state

WD C D C W C WD

Dead ends
F F W F D F C

Illegal states
F W C F WD C
D

repeated state F
W
D
C
F WD
C
F
W
D C
intermediate state

F C F W C F D C F W F WD F W C
WD D W D C C D

D C C D WD D W
F W F WD F W C F C F W C F D C

F D F WD F D C
W C C W

F W
D
C F WD C Goal state 6
Search Methods
 Searching for a solution: F WD C

We start with the initial state and WD C DC W C WD

keep using the operators to F FW F D F C

expand the parent nodes till we

find a goal state. FW C
D
F WD C

W C C W

…but the search space might be

F D F WD F DC

large… F C FW C F DC FW F WD FW C
WD D W DC C D

 …really large… DC C D WD D W
FW F WD FW C F C FW C F DC

 So we need some systematic way

to search.
F D F WD F DC
W C C W

D
FW C F WD C

7
Search Methods
F WD C

 Problem solution:
WD C DC W C WD
A problem solution is simply the set F FW F D F C

of operators (actions) needed to

reach the goal state from the initial
FW C F WD C
D

state:
W C C W
F D F WD F DC

F-Takes-D, F-Takes-Self, F-Takes-W, F

WD
C FW C
D
F
W
DC FW
DC
F WD
C
FW C
D

F-Takes-D, F-Takes-C, F-Takes-Self,

DC C D WD D W
FW F WD FW C F C FW C F DC

F D F WD F DC

F-Takes-D. W C C W

D
FW C F WD C

8
Search Methods
 Problem solution: (path Cost = 7)
While there are other possibilities here is one 7 step solution to the river problem

F D D F W D
F-Takes-D F-Takes-S F-Takes-W

F W D C W C F W C C
Initial State WC/FD FWC/D C/FWD

F-Takes-D

F W G C W C F W C W

F-Takes-D F-Takes-S F-Takes-C

F D D F D C
Goal State FD/WC D/FWC FDC/W
9
Problem Solving by searching

Basic Search Algorithms

Basic Search Algorithms
 uninformed( Blind) search: breadth-first, depth-first,
depth limited, iterative deepening, and bidirectional search

 informed (Heuristic) search: search is guided by an

evaluation function: Greedy best-first, A*, IDA*, and beam
search

 optimization in which the search is to find an optimal value

of an objective function: hill climbing, simulated annealing,
genetic algorithms, Ant Colony Optimization

 Game playing, an adversarial search: minimax algorithm,

alpha-beta pruning
11
What Criteria are used to Compare
different search techniques ?
As we are going to consider different techniques to search the
problem space, we need to consider what criteria we will use to
compare them.

 Completeness: Is the technique guaranteed to find an answer

(if there is one).

 Optimality/Admissibility : does it always find a least-cost

solution?
- an admissible algorithm will find a solution with minimum cost

 Time Complexity: How long does it take to find a solution.

 Space Complexity: How much memory does it take to find a

solution.
12
Time and Space Complexity ?
Time and space complexity are measured in terms of:

 The average number of new nodes we create when expanding

a new node is the (effective) branching factor b.

 The (maximum) branching factor b is defined as the maximum

nodes created when a new node is expanded.

 The length of a path to a goal is the depth d.

 The maximum length of any path in the state space m.

13
Branching factors for some
problems
 The eight puzzle has a (effective) 2 1 3
branching factor of 2.13, so a search tree
at depth 20 has about 3.7 million nodes: 4 7 6
O(bd) 5 8

 Rubik’s cube has a (effective) branching

factor of 13.34. There are
901,083,404,981,813,616 different states.
The average depth of a solution is about
18.

 Chess has a branching factor of about 35,

there are about 10120 states (there are
about 1079 electrons in the universe).

14
A Toy Example: A Romanian
Holiday
 State space: Cities in Romania
 Initial state: Town of Arad
 Goal: Airport in Bucharest
 Operators: Drive between cities
 Solution: Sequence of cities
 Path cost: number of cities, distance,
time, fuel
15
The state Space

16
Generic Search Algorithms

 Basic Idea: Off-line exploration of state space by

generating successors of already-explored states (also
known as expanding states).
Function GENERAL-SEARCH (problem, strategy)
returns a solution or failure
Initialize the search tree using the initial state of problem
loop do
if there are no candidates for expansion, then return failure
Choose a leaf node for expansion according to strategy
if node contains goal state then return solution
else expand node and add resulting nodes to search tree.
end
17
Representing Search
Arad

Zerind Sibiu Timisoara

Arad Oradea Fagaras Rimnicu Vilcea

Sibiu Bucharest

18
Solution

19
Implementation of Generic
Search Algorithm
function general-search(problem, QUEUEING-FUNCTION)
nodes = MAKE-QUEUE(MAKE-NODE(problem.INITIAL-STATE))
loop do
if EMPTY(nodes) then return "failure"
node = REMOVE-FRONT(nodes)
if problem.GOAL-TEST(node.STATE) succeeds then return solution(node)
nodes = QUEUEING-FUNCTION(nodes, EXPAND(node, problem.OPERATORS))
end

A nice fact about this search algorithm is that we can use a single algorithm to do
many kinds of search. The only difference is in how the nodes are placed in the
queue. The choice of queuing function is the main feature. 20
Key Issues of State-Space
search algorithm
 Search process constructs a “search tree”
• root is the start node
• leaf nodes are:
 unexpanded nodes (in the nodes list)
 “dead ends” (nodes that aren’t goals and have no successors because
no operators were applicable)

 Loops in a graph may cause a “search tree” to be infinite even if the

state space is small

 changing definition of how nodes are added to list leads to a different

search strategy

 Solution desired may be:

• just the goal state
• a path from start to goal state (e.g., 8-puzzle)

21
Uninformed search strategies
(Blind search)
Uninformed (blind) strategies use only the information available in
the problem definition. These strategies order nodes without
using any domain specific information

Contrary to Informed search techniques which might have

additional information (e.g. a compass).

 Breadth-first search
 Uniform-cost search
 Depth-first search
 Depth-limited search
 Iterative deepening search
 Bidirectional search

22
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Breadth First Search (BFS)

Breadth First Search (BFS)

24
Breadth First Search (BFS)

Main idea: Expand all nodes at depth (i) before expanding nodes at depth (i + 1)
Level-order Traversal.
Implementation: Use of a First-In-First-Out queue (FIFO). Nodes visited first
are expanded first. Enqueue nodes in FIFO (first-in, first-out) order.
• Complete? Yes.
• Optimal? Yes, if path cost is nondecreasing function of depth
• Time Complexity: O(bd)
• Space Complexity: O(bd), note that every node in the fringe is kept in the queue.
25
Breadth First Search
 QUEUING-FN:- successors added to end
of queue Arad

Zerind Sibiu Timisoara

Arad
Arad Oradea
Oradea Fagaras
Arad Lugoj
Rimnicu Vilcea

Shallow nodes are expanded before deeper nodes.

26
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
1 4 1 7
[6] [9] [3] [9]
Goal state
4 5

[x] = g(n) [7] [8]

path cost of node n

28
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]

29
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
1 7
[3] [9]

30
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
1 7
[3] [9]
4 5

[7] [8]

31
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
1 4 1 7
[6] [9] [3] [9]
4 5

[7] [8]

32
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
Goal state
1 4 1
path cost 7
g(n)=[6] [3] [9]
[9]
4 5

[7] [8]

33
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)

5 2
[5] [2]
1 4 1 7
[6] [9] [3] [9]
4 5

[7] [8]

34
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)
 In case of equal step costs, Breadth First search finds
the optimal solution.

 For any step-cost function, Uniform Cost search

expands the node n with the lowest path cost.

 UCS takes into account the total cost: g(n).

 UCS is guided by path costs rather than depths.

Nodes are ordered according to their path cost.
35
Uniform Cost Search (UCS)
 Main idea: Expand the cheapest node. Where the cost is the path cost g(n).

 Implementation:
Enqueue nodes in order of cost g(n).
QUEUING-FN:- insert in order of increasing path cost.
Enqueue new node at the appropriate position in the queue so that we
dequeue the cheapest node.

 Complete? Yes.
 Optimal? Yes, if path cost is nondecreasing function of depth
 Time Complexity: O(bd)
 Space Complexity: O(bd), note that every node in the fringe keep in the queue.

36
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Depth First Search (DFS)

Depth First Search (DFS)

38
Depth First Search (DFS)
Main idea: Expand node at the deepest level (breaking ties left to right).

Implementation: use of a Last-In-First-Out queue or stack(LIFO). Enqueue

nodes in LIFO (last-in, first-out) order.

• Complete? No (Yes on finite trees, with no loops).

• Optimal? No

• Time Complexity: O(bm), where m is the maximum depth.

• Space Complexity: O(bm), where m is the maximum depth.

39
Depth First Search

40
Depth-First Search (DFS)
 QUEUING-FN:- insert successors at
front of queue Arad

Zerind Sibiu Timisoara

Arad Oradea

Zerind Sibiu Timisoara

41
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Depth-Limited Search (DLS)

Depth-Limited Search (DLS)

Depth Bound = 3
43
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
It is simply DFS with a depth bound.
 Searching is not permitted beyond the depth bound.

 Works well if we know what the depth of the solution is.

 Termination is guaranteed.

 If the solution is beneath the depth bound, the search

cannot find the goal (hence this search algorithm is
incomplete).

 Otherwise use Iterative deepening search (IDS).

44
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
Main idea: Expand node at the deepest level, but limit depth to L.

Implementation:
Enqueue nodes in LIFO (last-in, first-out) order. But limit depth to L

•Complete? Yes if there is a goal state at a depth less than L

• Optimal? No

• Time Complexity: O(bL), where L is the cutoff.

• Space Complexity: O(bL), where L is the cutoff.

45
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)

function ITERATIVE-DEEPENING-SEARCH():

for depth = 0 to infinity do

if DEPTH-LIMITED-SEARCH(depth) succeeds
then return its result
end
return failure

47
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 Key idea: Iterative deepening search (IDS) applies DLS repeatedly
with increasing depth. It terminates when a solution is found or no
solutions exists.

 IDS combines the benefits of BFS and DFS: Like DFS the memory
requirements are very modest (O(bd)). Like BFS, it is complete
when the branching factor is finite.

 The total number of generated nodes is :

N(IDS)=(d)b + (d-1) b2 + …+(1)bd

 In general, iterative deepening is the preferred uninformed search

method when there is a large search space and the depth of the
solution is not known. 48
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)

L=0

L=1

L=2

L=3
49
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)

50
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)

51
Basic Search Algorithms
Uninformed Search

Bi-Directional Search (BDS)

Bi-directional Search (BDS)
 Main idea: Start searching from
both the initial state and the goal
state, meet in the middle.

 Complete? Yes
 Optimal? Yes
 Time Complexity: O(bd/2), where
d is the depth of the solution.
 Space Complexity: O(bd/2), where
d is the depth of the solution.
53
Basic Search Algorithms

Comparison of search algorithms

Comparison of search
algorithms

b: Branching factor
d: Depth of solution
m: Maximum depth

l : Depth Limit
55
Blind Search Algorithms

Tree Search:
BFS, DFS, DLS, IDS
Basic Search Algorithms

Breadth First Search

BFS
Breadth First Search
 Application1:
Given the following state space (tree search), give the sequence
of visited nodes when using BFS (assume that the nodeO is the
goal state):
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
58
Breadth First Search
 A,

B C D E

59
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,

B C D E

F G

60
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C

B C D E

F G H

61
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D

B C D E

F G H I J

62
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E

B C D E

F G H I J

63
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,
A

B C D E

F G H I J

64
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L

65
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L

66
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M

67
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

68
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
 K, A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

69
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
 K,L A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
70
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
 K,L, M, A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
71
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
 K,L, M,N, A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
72
Breadth First Search
 A,
 B,C,D,E,
 F,G,H,I,J,
 K,L, M,N, A
 Goal state: O
B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
73
Breadth First Search
 The returned solution is the sequence of operators in the path:
A, B, G, L, O

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
74
Basic Search Algorithms

Depth First Search

DFS
Depth First Search (DFS)
 Application2:
Given the following state space (tree search), give the sequence
of visited nodes when using DFS (assume that the nodeO is the
goal state):
A

B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N

O
76
Depth First Search
 A,

B C D E

77
Depth First Search
 A,B,

B C D E

F G

78
Depth First Search
 A,B,F,

B C D E

F G

79
Depth First Search
 A,B,F,
 G,

B C D E

F G

K L

80
Depth First Search
 A,B,F,
 G,K,

B C D E

F G

K L

81
Depth First Search
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
A

B C D E

F G

K L

O
82
Depth First Search
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L, O: Goal State
A

B C D E

F G

K L

O
83
Depth First Search
The returned solution is the sequence of operators in the path:
A, B, G, L, O

B C D E

F G

K L

O
84
Basic Search Algorithms

Depth-Limited Search
DLS
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 Application3:
Given the following state space (tree search), give the sequence
of visited nodes when using DLS (Limit = 2):

Limit = 0 A

Limit = 1 B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

K L M N

O
86
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,

B C D E

Limit = 2

87
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

88
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

89
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

90
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,
A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H

91
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H

92
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D, A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

93
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

94
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

95
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
 E B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

96
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
 E, Failure B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

97
Depth-Limited Search (DLS)
 DLS algorithm returns Failure (no solution)
 The reason is that the goal is beyond the limit (Limit =2): the
goal depth is (d=4)
A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

K L M N

O
98
Basic Search Algorithms

Iterative Deepening Search

IDS
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 Application4:
Given the following state space (tree search), give the sequence
of visited nodes when using IDS:

Limit = 0 A

Limit = 1 B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M N

Limit = 4 O
100
Iterative Deepening Search
(IDS)

DLS with bound = 0

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,

Limit = 0 A

102
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A, Failure

Limit = 0 A

103
Iterative Deepening Search
(IDS)

DLS with bound = 1

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,

Limit = 1 B C D E

105
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,

Limit = 1 B C D E

106
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,
 C,

Limit = 1 B C D E

107
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,
 C,
 D,
A

Limit = 1 B C D E

108
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B
 C,
 D,
 E, A

Limit = 1 B C D E

109
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,
 C,
 D,
 E, Failure A

Limit = 1 B C D E

110
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,

B C D E

Limit = 2

111
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

112
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

113
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G

114
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,
A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H

115
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H

116
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D, A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

117
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A

B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

118
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

119
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
 E B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

120
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,
 C,H,
 D,I A
 J,
 E, Failure B C D E

Limit = 2 F G H I J

K L M N

O
121
Iterative Deepening Search
(IDS)

DLS with bound = 3

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,

B C D E

Limit = 3

123
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 3

124
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 3

125
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 3 K L

126
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 3 K L

127
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
A

B C D E

F G

Limit = 3 K L

128
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C, A

B C D E

F G H

Limit = 3 K L

129
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A

B C D E

F G H

Limit = 3 K L

130
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,
B C D E

F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L

131
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,
B C D E

F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M

132
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,M,
B C D E

F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M

133
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,M,
 J, B C D E

F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M N

134
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,M,
 J,N, B C D E

F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M N

135
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,M,
 J,N, B C D E
 E,
F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M N

136
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
 C,H, A
 D,I,M,
 J,N, B C D E
 E,Failure
F G H I J

Limit = 3 K L M N

O
137
Iterative Deepening Search
(IDS)

DLS with bound = 4

Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,

B C D E

Limit = 4
139
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 4
140
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,

B C D E

F G

Limit = 4
141
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,

B C D E

F G

K L

Limit = 4
142
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,

B C D E

F G

K L

Limit = 4
143
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L,
A

B C D E

F G

K L

Limit = 4 O
144
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
 A,B,F,
 G,K,
 L, O: Goal State
A

B C D E

F G

K L

Limit = 4 O
145
Iterative Deepening Search (IDS)
The returned solution is the sequence of operators in the path:
A, B, G, L, O

B C D E

F G

K L

O
146
Summary
 Search: process of constructing sequences of actions that achieve a goal given a
problem.
 The studied methods assume that the environment is observable, deterministic,
static and completely known.
 Goal formulation is the first step in solving problems by searching. It facilitates
problem formulation.
 Formulating a problem requires specifying four components: Initial states,
operators, goal test and path cost function. Environment is represented as a
state space.
 A solution is a path from the initial state to a goal state.
 Search algorithms are judged on the basis of completeness, optimality, time
complexity and space complexity.
 Several search strategies: BFS, DFS, DLS, IDS,…

 All uninformed searches have an exponential time complexity – hopeless as a

viable problem solving mechanism (unless you have a quantum computer!)
147