Topic: 03 Problem Solving by Searching

1. Mention the criteria for the evaluation of a search strategy.

   (Years: 2021, 2014, 2011)

   Or, List the criteria to measure the performance of different search strategies.

   (Year: 2013)

2. Define a problem and its components.

   (Year: 2014)

   Or, Define a problem. Mention the basic elements that are to be included in the problem definition.

3. What is a real-world problem? How can a concise problem be formulated from it for solving?

   (Year: 2013)

4. Define state-space search technique.

   (Years: 2016, 2014)

5. What is a “uniform-cost search”? Write its merits and demerits.

   (Year: 2011)

6. What is blind search?

   (Years: 2017, 2011)

7. Differentiate uninformed and informed search.

   (Years: 2016, 2014, 2013)

   Or, Mention the difference between blind search and informed search.

   (Year: 2018)

8. Discuss hill-climbing search. Mention some drawbacks of hill climbing search.

   (Year: 2021)

   Or, What do you know about hill climbing search? What are its drawbacks?

   (Years: 2020, 2015)

9. How does hill climbing ensure greedy search? Discuss some potential problems of using hill climbing search. Provide examples of the cited problems.

   (Year: 2013)

10. What is meant by an “admissible” heuristic?

    (Years: 2018, 2016, 2015, 2011)

11. Write down the A algorithm and explain it with an example.

    (Years: 2014, 2013, 2012)

12. How can the A algorithm be used to find the minimal cost overall path as quickly as possible?

    (Years: 2014, 2013)

13. Write down the benefit of A search with respect to uniform-cost and greedy search.

    (Year: 2017)

14. What is a heuristic search? Prove that A search is optimal.

    (Year: 2021)

    Or, Prove that A search is optimal and complete.*

    (Years: 2018, 2015, 2011)

15. What is a heuristic function? Explain heuristics for constraint satisfaction problems.

    (Year: 2013)

16. What is DFS (Depth-First Search)? Write down the algorithm of DFS with an example.

    (Year: 2012)

17. Evaluate the best-first search using four evaluation criteria.

    (Year: 2011)

18. Discuss the following search techniques with the help of an example:

    i) Depth-First Search

    ii) Breadth-First Search

    (Year: 2013)

19. Differentiate Breadth-First Search and Depth-First Search.

    (Year: 2021)

20. What are the advantages of BFS and DFS?

    (Year: 2017)

    Or, What are the merits and demerits of depth-first search and breadth-first search?

    (Years: 2019, 2016)

    Or, What are the merits and demerits of DFS and BFS?

    (Year: 2018)

    Or, What are the advantages and disadvantages of DFS and BFS?

    (Year: 2011)

21. What are the key differences between depth-first search and depth-limited search?

    (Years: 2017, 2011)

22. What do you know about “Informed Search”? How does it differ from depth-first search?

    (Year: 2015)

23. “Iterative deepening search combines the benefits of depth-first search and breadth-first search” – Explain.

    (Years: 2019, 2014)

24. Discuss iterative deepening DFS and compare it to DFS with respect to computational cost.

    (Year: 2012)

25. Draw and compare iterative deepening search (IDS) and depth-limited search (DLS) after discussing both search strategies.

    (Year: 2015)

    Or, Mention the difference between depth-limited search and iterative deepening search.

    (Years: 2020, 2018)

    Or, Discuss the benefits and shortcomings of depth-first search and breadth-first search.

    (Year: 2013)

26. Write a short note on the genetic algorithm.

    (Year: 2021)

    Or, Write about the genetic algorithm and its application.

    (Year: 2014)

27. Draw a flowchart of the basic genetic algorithm.

    (Years: 2017, 2011)

28. Mention the operators used in the genetic algorithm. Explain any two.

    (Year: 2014)

    Or, Explain the genetic operators used in GA.

    (Year: 2011)

29. Describe bidirectional search. State how repeated states are avoided in depth-first search (DFS).

    (Years: 2018, 2015)

30. Explain the constraint satisfaction problem using a suitable example.

    (Year: 2014)

31. Distinguish between contingency problems and exploration problems with respect to problem-solving by searching.

    (Year: 2017)

32. With an illustration, explain single-state problems, multiple-state problems, stringency problems, and exploration problems.

    (Year: 2019)

33. What is the functional strategy of bidirectional search? Give an example.

    (Year: 2020)

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