[arvinsim]

> I have no fucking clue how to write a BFS. I've never needed to know how to write a BFS. [...] If there's something I need to know and don't, I simply research it.

>The problem with that is when the best solution to a problem is a BFS, you may never recognize or realize it, because you know nothing about BFS. You won't know what to research for.

Just because someone doesn't know how to write BFS code doesn't mean they don't know what it is.

> BFS is awfully basic knowledge. How do you know you've never needed a BFS? Maybe you never needed a BFS because a linked list is your go-to data structure? Maybe you've been reinventing bubble sort. (I'm not the only programmer who incompetently reinvented bubble sort, not even close. I just didn't know any better.)

Never had to write a BFS in all my years of programming. I am one of those programmers that write glue code and are not "real" programmers by the definition of some here in HN.

[skookumchuck]

> Just because someone doesn't know how to write BFS code doesn't mean they don't know what it is.

Actually, it does mean they don't know what it is. BFS stands for "Breadth First Search". If a node in a data structure has two links, one going down in the data structure, and one going sideways, breadth first means going sideways first. "Depth First" means going down first.

That's the algorithm. It ain't rocket science. There's no trick involved.