Summary
In this chapter, we learned how heuristic search techniques work. We discussed the difference between uninformed and informed searches. We learned about constraint satisfaction problems and how we can solve problems using this paradigm. We discussed how local search techniques work and why simulated annealing is used in practice. We implemented a greedy search for a string problem. We solved a problem using the CSP formulation.
We used this approach to solve the region-coloring problem. We then discussed the A* algorithm and how it can used to find the optimal paths to the solution. We used it to build an 8-puzzle solver as well as a maze solver. In the next chapter, we will discuss genetic algorithms and how they can used to solve real-world problems.
