What is the purpose of the A* algorithm in the PHP code provided in the forum thread?

The purpose of the A* algorithm in the PHP code provided in the forum thread is to find the shortest path between two points on a grid while considering the cost of moving between nodes and the heuristic estimate of the remaining distance to the goal. 

<?php
function aStar($start, $goal, $grid) {
    // Implementation of the A* algorithm to find the shortest path
    // between the start and goal points on the grid
    // Returns the shortest path as an array of coordinates
    // $start and $goal are arrays containing the x and y coordinates
    // $grid is a 2D array representing the grid with obstacles and costs
    
    // Your A* algorithm implementation code here
    
    return $shortestPath;
}

// Example usage
$start = [0, 0];
$goal = [4, 4];
$grid = [
    [1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [1, 0, 1, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 1, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
];

$shortestPath = aStar($start, $goal, $grid);
print_r($shortestPath);
?>

Keywords

A* algorithm PHP code forum thread purpose implementation

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