When to Use Backtracking

Use backtracking when:

$1.$ You need to find all solutions or count valid configurations

$2.$ Choices at each step depend on previous choices

$3.$ You can detect invalid partial solutions early

$4.$ The search space is finite but too large to enumerate naively

Backtracking shines when constraints let you prune large branches. If you can't prune, consider DP or other approaches instead.