From a start vertex, explore the graph layer by layer. Use a queue and a "visited" set. Dequeue a vertex, visit it, enqueue all unvisited neighbours.

Algorithm

Canonical adjacency list:

1 -> [2, 3]
2 -> [1, 4]
3 -> [1, 4]
4 -> [2, 3, 5]
5 -> [4, 6]
6 -> [5]

Starting at vertex 1, the BFS visit order is [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

Basic Implementation

basic.go
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
	adj := map[int][]int{
		1: {2, 3},
		2: {1, 4},
		3: {1, 4},
		4: {2, 3, 5},
		5: {4, 6},
		6: {5},
	}
	start := 1
	visited := map[int]bool{start: true}
	queue := []int{start}
	order := []int{}
	for len(queue) > 0 {
		v := queue[0]
		queue = queue[1:]
		order = append(order, v)
		for _, nb := range adj[v] {
			if !visited[nb] {
				visited[nb] = true
				queue = append(queue, nb)
			}
		}
	}
	fmt.Println(order)
}

Complexity

  • Time: O(V + E)
  • Space: O(V)

Implementation notes

  • Go: map[int][]int is the idiomatic adjacency list and keeps the vertex iteration shape visible; the lesson does not lean on container/list or any third-party graph package.
  • A map[int]bool is the explicit "visited" set; the queue is a plain []int slice with queue[0] / queue[1:] for dequeue and append for enqueue.
  • The replay prints the dequeued vertex, the queue, the visited set, and the running visit order each frame.
queue A plain `[]int` slice with `queue[0]` / `queue = queue[1:]` for dequeue and `append` for enqueue implements FIFO without hiding the iteration shape.
visited-before-enqueue Mark a vertex visited before pushing it onto the queue. Keeps the queue size bounded by V.