Uniform Cost Search — AI Technical Interview Questions & Answers

Uniform Cost Search

Uniform Cost Search

  • UCS expands the cheapest path-so-far first (priority queue on g). Optimal if costs ≥ 0. Like Dijkstra. No heuristic. If all costs are 1, UCS behaves like BFS.
  • Uniform Cost Search — output: three exam lines. Graph on paper first.
  start
    ├── BFS  queue
    ├── DFS  stack
    └── A*   g+h
    │
    ▼
   goal

Technical Interview Tip: UCS vs BFS when costs differ.

Code Examples for Uniform Cost Search

Example

# Uniform Cost Search
print("draw 6 nodes")
print("name the DS: queue / stack / priority")
print("say if the path is optimal")

Uniform Cost Search — output: three exam lines. Graph on paper first.

How to Explain Uniform Cost Search to an Interviewer

Explain Uniform Cost Search as if you are teaching a junior — definition, then one example.

Priority on g(n). Optimal if costs ≥ 0.

What does the example print, and what does that prove?

Uniform Cost Search — output: three exam lines

What mistake do freshers make with Uniform Cost Search?

Only the buzzword, no example