A thread you can test
Search and Decision
3 notes move from the word to a real choice at work — understand it first, then decide whether to use it.
Each note stands alone, or becomes the next step in this thread.
THE QUESTION THIS PAGE ANSWERS
ANSWER FIRSTWhat is Search and Decision, and which AI decisions does it change?
Watch two search personalities in a maze animation: sweep layer by layer vs go all the way down one path; Coding Agent grep and web crawlers are variants of both This page keeps the related concepts, common mistakes, and practical notes in one reading thread.
First decide whether you are blocked by a definition, a choice, or verification; then choose the closest of the 3 notes below.
Start with “BFS and DFS: How an Agent Finds Files in a Codebase,” then restate the conclusion using your own task.
Do not treat every method in a topic as interchangeable. The answer changes with the input, risk, and acceptance bar.
THIS QUESTION THREAD
Put the word back inside the choice it changes.
BFS and DFS: How an Agent Finds Files in a Codebase
Watch two search personalities in a maze animation: sweep layer by layer vs go all the way down one path; Coding Agent grep and web crawlers are variants of both
Greedy and Sampling: Two Personalities When AI Picks Words
Always picking the biggest is greedy decoding; rolling dice by probability is sampling—the algorithms behind Temperature. Compare sentences from both strategies yourself
Beam Search: Look a Few Steps Ahead Before Choosing
One greedy misstep cascades; Beam Search keeps several candidate paths and explores ahead. Interactively compare the sentences each strategy walks, and feel where “think first, then answer” comes from