deadends

Deadends, also written as dead ends or dead-ends, refer to points of termination where no further progression is possible. The term is used across disciplines to describe physical, informational, or metabolic stalemates.

In road networks, a dead end is a street that terminates with no through passage. Often it ends in a cul-de-sac or a loop; dead ends influence traffic patterns, safety, and land use, and they are common in residential neighborhoods.

In graph theory and maze design, a dead end is a vertex or corridor that leads to no further onward path. In directed graphs it corresponds to a node with no outgoing edges; in undirected graphs it is a leaf (degree one). Dead ends affect traversal and pathfinding algorithms, and many mazes intentionally include dead ends to increase complexity.

In workflows and decision processes, a dead end is a state with no available actions or options, forcing backtracking or termination of a process. In software and data analysis, dead ends can indicate dead code or unreachable states that require refactoring.

In biology and chemistry, a dead-end metabolite or pathway is one that cannot be converted into other compounds or fed into biomass under current conditions.

Understanding deadends helps in planning, whether designing safer street layouts, improving algorithm efficiency, or optimizing systems to provide exit routes or alternative actions when a dead end is reached.