👀 Views: 141 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-05

pathfinding algorithm javascript JavaScript

After trying multiple solutions online, I still can't figure this out. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I am currently implementing the A* pathfinding algorithm in JavaScript using the popular `pathfinding.js` library, but I am working with an infinite loop that seems to occur under specific circumstances. The algorithm works as expected on most datasets, but when I pass in a grid with certain configurations (like denser obstacles), it appears to hang indefinitely. Here's a snippet of my implementation: ```javascript const { AStarFinder } = require('pathfinding'); const grid = new Grid(20, 20); // Set some obstacles on the grid grid.setWalkable(5, 5, false); grid.setWalkable(5, 6, false); grid.setWalkable(5, 7, false); const finder = new AStarFinder(); const start = grid.getNodeAt(0, 0); const end = grid.getNodeAt(19, 19); const path = finder.findPath(start.x, start.y, end.x, end.y, grid); console.log(path); ``` I have also tried adjusting the heuristic function to use `manhattan` and `euclidean`, but it didn't seem to help. When debugging, I noticed that the `openList` keeps expanding without ever reaching the `end` node, which suggests that it may be exploring in a loop while trying to find the best path. I checked if there are any invalid nodes being added to the `openList`, but everything seems fine according to my logs. The `pathfinding.js` library version I am using is `0.4.18`. Has anyone faced a similar scenario or know what could be causing this infinite loop? Any guidance on how to debug this would be greatly appreciated, as the performance hit is becoming a important question for my application. For context: I'm using Javascript on Ubuntu. How would you solve this? I'm coming from a different tech stack and learning Javascript. Any examples would be super helpful. My team is using Javascript for this web app. Cheers for any assistance!