The constraint that you can't see the full maze upfront is what makes this tricky.
Model the maze as a graph where each position is a node and moves to adjacent positions are edges. Use recursive DFS with a visited set to explore all reachable positions, checking for cheese at each step and backtracking when necessary. Clearly state assumptions about the maze boundaries and movement rules.
Pro tip: Discuss how to handle cycles and avoid infinite loops by marking visited positions, and mention that DFS uses O(V) space in the worst case due to recursion depth. Also, clarify whether the maze is finite and if the cheese is guaranteed to be reachable.
Ask about the maze representation, movement rules (e.g., 4-directional), and whether the maze is finite. Confirm that the cheese is reachable and that we can mark positions as visited.
Write a recursive function that takes the current position, checks if it has cheese (return true if found), marks it as visited, and then recursively explores all adjacent unvisited positions.
If none of the adjacent moves lead to cheese, return false to backtrack. Ensure the recursion terminates when all reachable positions are visited or cheese is found.
State that time complexity is O(V + E) where V is number of positions and E is number of moves, and space is O(V) for the visited set and recursion stack. Mention that BFS could find the shortest path but DFS is simpler and uses less memory in some cases.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.