If you are wondering how my string operations is able to be fast, it is because of the simple fact that python’s index and rindex are pactically O(n) time.(which for my use of it after slicing the string, it is closer to O(log(n)) time ) here are some more tricks in case you wish to think about that more. [link] Also, the more verbose option is simply tricks in batch processing. why bother checking each node individually, when we already know that a dead end is simply straight lines?

If there was an exceedingly large maze was just a simple two spirals design, where one is a dead end and another has the “end flag” then my batch processing would simply outpace the slower per node iterator. in this scenario, there is a 50/50 chance you pick the right spiral, while it is just easier to look for which one is a dead end and just backtrack to chose the other option. technically it is slower than just guessing correctly first try, but that feels awfully similar to how a bogosort works. you just randomly choose paths(removing previously checked paths) or deterministically enumerate all paths. while a dead end is extremely easy to find and culls all those paths as extremely low priority, or in this spiral scenario, it is the more safe option than accidentally choosing the wrong path.

What would be the fastest would be to simply convert this to bit like representations. each wall could be 1, and empty spots could be 0. would have to be mindful of the location of the start and end separately.