Member-only story
Depth-First Search (DFS) Algorithm With Python
Python implementation of DFS graph search algorithm
Breadth-First Search (BFS) and Depth-First Search (DFS) are two of the most fundamental graph traversal techniques to learn. In a previous article I discussed how we can code the BFS algorithm using Python:
In continuation to that, today I’ll write about how to implement the DFS algorithm in Python. First, we will see the basics of DFS and visualize how the algorithm works. Then we will start coding the algorithm in Python.
DFS Basics
For traversing a graph we can take two approaches. We can go level-by-level or we can go to the depth as far as possible.
DFS takes the second approach. It starts with a root node and explores the graph in-depth as far as possible. After reaching a dead-end, the algorithm starts backtracking and eventually completes the search.
Let’s visualize how DFS works with an example:
