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Stop bidirectional A* when either frontier is empty - #15484

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dhairyajangir wants to merge 1 commit into
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dhairyajangir:fix/bidirectional-empty-frontier
Open

dhairyajangir wants to merge 1 commit into
TheAlgorithms:masterfrom
dhairyajangir:fix/bidirectional-empty-frontier

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Describe your change

  • Add an algorithm?
  • Fix a bug or typo in an existing algorithm?
  • Add or change doctests? -- Note: Please avoid changing both code and tests in a single pull request.
  • Documentation change?

Stop the bidirectional A* loop when either frontier is empty. The previous or condition allowed another iteration with one empty list, although that iteration unconditionally pops from both frontiers.

For example, with grid = [[0, 1, 0], [1, 1, 0]], start (0, 0), and goal (0, 2), the forward frontier empties first and the current implementation raises IndexError: pop from empty list. The change returns the existing start-only no-path result. The mirrored case, where the backward frontier empties first, is fixed as well.

This is a one-line guard change. Node matching, heuristics, and the existing return convention are unchanged. Existing doctests are preserved as requested by the contribution guidelines.

Validation on free-threaded CPython 3.15.0rc2:

  • All 18 existing doctests pass.
  • Separate regression checks cover each frontier emptying first, both emptying together, and a reachable three-cell corridor: baseline 2 pass / 2 fail; fixed 4 pass.
  • pre-commit run --all-files --show-diff-on-failure passes all applicable configured hooks.

AI assistance was used to prepare this change; a separate agent review reproduced the failures and verified the fix and unchanged controls.

Checklist

  • I have read CONTRIBUTING.md.
  • This pull request is all my own work -- I have not plagiarized.
  • I know that pull requests will not be merged if they fail the automated tests.
  • This PR only changes one algorithm file. To ease review, please open separate PRs for separate algorithms.
  • All new Python files are placed inside an existing directory.
  • All filenames are in all lowercase characters with no spaces or dashes.
  • All functions and variable names follow Python naming conventions.
  • All function parameters and return values are annotated with Python type hints.
  • All functions have doctests that pass the automated testing.
  • All new algorithms include at least one URL that points to Wikipedia or another similar explanation.
  • If this pull request resolves one or more open issues, then the description above includes the issue number(s) with a closing keyword: "Fixes #ISSUE-NUMBER".

No new file or algorithm is added, and no issue is claimed. The existing class doctests pass; this change adds no doctests or new functions.

@algorithms-keeper algorithms-keeper Bot added awaiting reviews This PR is ready to be reviewed enhancement This PR modified some existing files labels Oct 2, 2026

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