Question

Im developing an A* for the first time, and I was using a priority_queue for the open set, until I realize you need to check if nodes are in the open set too, not just the close one.

Thing is, you cant iterate over a priority queue..So why everyone recommend a priority queue for the open set? Is it yet the best option? I think the only way to iterate over it is making a copy so I can pop everything from it (enormous cost).

What the best data structure to use on A*?

Answer 1

A priority queue (PQ) is an abstract data structure (ADS). There are many possibilities to implement them. Unfortunately, the priority_queue supplied with the C++ standard library is rather limited, and other implementations are suited a lot better for implementing A*. Spoilers: you can use std::set/multiset instead of std::priority_queue. But read on:

So what do you need from the priority queue to implement A* is:

1. Get the node with the lowest cost
2. Decrease the costs of arbitrary elements

Any priority queue can do 1., but for 2., you need a “mutable” priority queue. The Standard-Lib one cannot do this. Also, you need an easy way to find entries in the priority queue, to find out where to decrease the keys (For when A* finds a better path to an already opened node). There are two basic ways for this: You store a handle to the priority queue element within your graph node (or use a map to store those handles for each graph node) – or you insert the graph nodes themselves.

For the first case, where you store handles for each node, you can use std::multiset for your priority queue. std::multiset::first() will always be your “lowest cost” key, and you can decrease a key by removing it from the set, changing the value and re-inserting, and updating the handle. Alternatively, you can use the mutable priority queues from Boost.Heap, which directly support “decrease-key”.

For the second case, you would need some kind of “intrusive” binary tree – since your pathfinding nodes themselves need to be in the priority queue. If you don’t want to roll your own, see the ordered associative containers in Boost.Intrusive.