A* Pathfinding Explained: From Breadth-First Search to Greedy Best-First Search

This article provides a clear explanation of the A* pathfinding algorithm. Starting with the simple Breadth-First Search (BFS), it progressively introduces Dijkstra's algorithm (handling varying movement costs), Greedy Best-First Search, and finally, the A* algorithm. Through diagrams and code examples, the article clearly shows the operation and advantages and disadvantages of different algorithms, discussing their applicability in different scenarios such as map pathfinding and game AI. A*, by incorporating a heuristic function, finds the shortest path while improving search efficiency, making it a popular pathfinding algorithm in many games.