Draw walls, generate mazes and watch four algorithms explore the grid: A* (fastest with heuristic), Dijkstra (optimal but slow), Greedy Best-First (fast but not optimal) and BFS (guaranteed shortest).
Each algorithm uses different strategies: BFS explores layer by layer, Dijkstra by cumulative cost, Greedy by estimated distance, A* by cost + estimate. Explored cells are visualised.
Draw walls with mouse. Place start and end points. Choose an algorithm and click Run. Compare the explored area (efficiency) and path quality (optimality).
A* was invented by Peter Hart, Nils Nilsson and Bertram Raphael in 1968 at Stanford Research Institute. It's widely used in video games, GPS navigation and robotic path planning.