Search

Search programs find a solution for a problem by trying different sequences of actions ( operators) until a solution is found.

Advantage:
Many kinds of problems can be viewed as search problems. To solve a problem using search, it is only necessary to code the operators that can be used; search will find the sequence of actions that will provide the desired result. For example, a program can be written to play chess using search if one knows the rules of chess; it isn't necessary to know how to play good chess.

Disadvantage:
Many problems have search spaces so large that it is impossible to search the whole space. Chess has been estimated to have 10¹²⁰ possible games. The rapid growth of combinations of possible moves is called the combinatoric explosion problem.