Build a candidate incrementally, abandoning a partial candidate as soon as no valid completion is possible. A depth-first search explores one choice, restores the previous state, and tries the next. Constraint propagation and bounds can greatly reduce the visited state space, although the worst-case time complexity may remain exponential.
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Backtracking is an algorithmic technique used for solving problems incrementally by trying to build a solution piece by piece and removing those solutions that fail to satisfy the conditions of the problem. It can be viewed as a refined brute-force approach that systematically searches for a solution by exploring and abandoning paths (backtracking) when a solution cannot be obtained. Here are the key characteristics and steps involved in backtracking: 1. **Incremental Construction**: Solutions are built incrementally.