Question

1. What is A-Star (A*) Algorithm in Artificial Intelligence?

2. A* Algorithm Steps

3. Why is A* Search Algorithm Preferred?

4. A* and Its Basic Concepts

5. What is a Heuristic Function?

6. Admissibility of the Heuristic Function

7. Consistency of the Heuristic Function

8. Find an Implementation in Java, C or Python just choose in which programming language you prefer only select one.

Answer 1

1. A * algorithm is an informed searching algorithm that is used to find the shortest path between the source(initial state) and the destination(final state). Generally it  is used to minimize the total cost of the solution path practically used in graph traversing. It is well known for its completeness, optimality, and optimal efficiency.

Dijkstra Alogrithm is a special case of A * Search Algorithm, where the cost(estimate to goal) is zero for all nodes.
A * has 3 parameters:

cost(from start) : the cost of moving from the starting point to the current point(estimate). It is the sum of all the points that have been visited since leaving the first point.
cost(estimate to goal) : It is the estimated cost of moving from the current point to the final point(goal). The actual cost i.e, the estiamted cost cannot be calculated until the final point is reached.
Evaluation function= cost(estimate to goal) + cost(from start).

A * algorithm gurantees to find the shortest path if the evaluation function is suitable. It is important not to overestimate the cost-to-goal function.