Which best describes the A* search algorithm?

The A* search algorithm is designed to efficiently find the shortest path between nodes by utilizing both actual costs and estimated costs. It combines the existing path cost from the start node to the current node with a heuristic estimate of the cost to reach the goal from the current node. This dual approach allows A* to prioritize exploring paths that are more promising based on both the known expenses incurred so far and the predicted expenses required to complete the journey to the goal.

The heuristic used in A* is crucial as it helps the algorithm make informed decisions about which paths to take, drastically improving performance over algorithms that do not consider such estimates. This contributes to A*'s effectiveness in searching through complex graphs as it can efficiently handle a wide range of graph types, not limited to linear configurations.