Difference between BFS and DFS Last Updated : 09 Jun, 2025 Comments Improve Suggest changes Like Article Like Report Breadth-First Search (BFS) and Depth-First Search (DFS) are two fundamental algorithms used for traversing or searching graphs and trees. This article covers the basic difference between Breadth-First Search and Depth-First Search.Difference between BFS and DFSParametersBFSDFSStands forBFS stands for Breadth First Search.DFS stands for Depth First Search.Data StructureBFS(Breadth First Search) uses Queue data structure for finding the shortest path.DFS(Depth First Search) uses Stack data structure.DefinitionBFS is a traversal approach in which we first walk through all nodes on the same level before moving on to the next level. DFS is also a traversal approach in which the traverse begins at the root node and proceeds through the nodes as far as possible until we reach the node with no unvisited nearby nodes.Conceptual DifferenceBFS builds the tree level by level.DFS builds the tree sub-tree by sub-tree.Approach usedIt works on the concept of FIFO (First In First Out). It works on the concept of LIFO (Last In First Out).Suitable forBFS is more suitable for searching vertices closer to the given source.DFS is more suitable when there are solutions away from source.ApplicationsBFS is used in various applications such as bipartite graphs, shortest paths, etc. If weight of every edge is same, then BFS gives shortest path from source to every other vertex.DFS is used in various applications such as acyclic graphs and finding strongly connected components etc. There are many applications where both BFS and DFS can be used like Topological Sorting, Cycle Detection, etc.Please also see BFS vs DFS for Binary Tree for the differences for a Binary Tree Traversal. Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article Detect Cycle in a Directed Graph M mks075 Follow Improve Article Tags : Algorithms Difference Between DSA BFS DFS +1 More Practice Tags : AlgorithmsBFSDFS Similar Reads Graph Algorithms Graph is a non-linear data structure like tree data structure. 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Difference Between Graph and Tree What is Graph?A grap 2 min read BFS and DFS on GraphBreadth First Search or BFS for a GraphGiven a undirected graph represented by an adjacency list adj, where each adj[i] represents the list of vertices connected to vertex i. Perform a Breadth First Search (BFS) traversal starting from vertex 0, visiting vertices from left to right according to the adjacency list, and return a list conta 15+ min read Depth First Search or DFS for a GraphIn Depth First Search (or DFS) for a graph, we traverse all adjacent vertices one by one. When we traverse an adjacent vertex, we completely finish the traversal of all vertices reachable through that adjacent vertex. This is similar to a tree, where we first completely traverse the left subtree and 13 min read Applications, Advantages and Disadvantages of Depth First Search (DFS)Depth First Search is a widely used algorithm for traversing a graph. 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This article covers the basic difference between Breadth-First Search and Depth-First Search.Difference between BFS and DFSParametersBFSDFSStands forBFS stands fo 2 min read Cycle in a GraphDetect Cycle in a Directed GraphGiven the number of vertices V and a list of directed edges, determine whether the graph contains a cycle or not.Examples: Input: V = 4, edges[][] = [[0, 1], [0, 2], [1, 2], [2, 0], [2, 3]]Cycle: 0 → 2 → 0 Output: trueExplanation: The diagram clearly shows a cycle 0 → 2 → 0 Input: V = 4, edges[][] = 15+ min read Detect cycle in an undirected graphGiven an undirected graph, the task is to check if there is a cycle in the given graph.Examples:Input: V = 4, edges[][]= [[0, 1], [0, 2], [1, 2], [2, 3]]Undirected Graph with 4 vertices and 4 edgesOutput: trueExplanation: The diagram clearly shows a cycle 0 → 2 → 1 → 0Input: V = 4, edges[][] = [[0, 8 min read Detect Cycle in a directed graph using colorsGiven a directed graph represented by the number of vertices V and a list of directed edges, determine whether the graph contains a cycle.Your task is to implement a function that accepts V (number of vertices) and edges (an array of directed edges where each edge is a pair [u, v]), and returns true 9 min read Detect a negative cycle in a Graph | (Bellman Ford)Given a directed weighted graph, your task is to find whether the given graph contains any negative cycles that are reachable from the source vertex (e.g., node 0).Note: A negative-weight cycle is a cycle in a graph whose edges sum to a negative value.Example:Input: V = 4, edges[][] = [[0, 3, 6], [1 15+ min read Cycles of length n in an undirected and connected graphGiven an undirected and connected graph and a number n, count the total number of simple cycles of length n in the graph. 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