Theory of Algorithms:

Space and Time Tradeoffs

Objectives
To introduce the mind set of trading
space for time
To show a variety of tradeoff solutions:
Sorting by Counting
Input Enhancement for String Matching
To discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of space and time
tradeoffs
Space-Time Tradeoffs
For many problems some extra space really pays off
Originally human computers would precompute a
functions values and record the results in maths tables
Similarly, electronic computers can preprocess inputs
and store additional info to accelerate the problem
Input Enhancement: store additional input information
Sorting by Counting
Horspools and Boyer-Moores Algorithms for String
Matching
Prestructuring: use extra space for faster data access
Hashing
B-trees
Dynamic Programming: record solutions to overlapping
subproblems
Sorting by Counting
Assume elements to be sorted belong to a known set of
small values between l and u, with potential duplication
Constraint: we cannot overwrite the original list
Distribution Counting: compute the frequency of each
element and later accumulate sum of frequencies
(distribution)
Algorithm:
for j ! 0 to u-l do D[j] ! 0 // init frequencies
for i ! 0 to n-1 do D[A[i]-l] ! D[A[i] - l] + 1 // compute frequencies
for j ! 1 to u-l do D[j] ! D[j-1] + D[j] // reuse for distribution
for i ! n-1 downto 0 do
j ! A[i] - l
S[D[j] - 1] ! A[i]
D[j] ! D[j] - 1
return S
Notes on Sorting by
Counting
Example: A =
A[5] = 12
A[4] = 12
A[3] = 13
A[2] = 12
A[1] = 11
A[0] = 13
Efficiency: "(n)
Best so far but only for specific types of input
13 11 12 13 12 12
Array Values 11 12 13
Frequencies 1 3 2
Distribution 1 4 6
D[0] D[1] D[2]
1 4 6
1 3 6
1 2 6
1 2 5
1 1 5
0 1 5
S[0] S[1] S[2] S[3] S[4] S[5]
12
12
13
12
11
13
Reminder: String
Matching
Pattern: a string of m characters to search
for
Text: a (longer) string of n characters to
search in
Brute force algorithm:
1. Align pattern at beginning of text
2. Moving from left to right, compare each character of
pattern to the corresponding character in text until
All characters are found to match (successful search); or
A mismatch is detected
3. While pattern is not found and the text is not yet
exhausted, realign pattern one position to the right and
repeat step 2.
Horspools Algorithm
According to Cook [1970] problem can be solved
in time proportional to n+m
Horspools Algorithm: a simplified version of Boyer-
Moore algorithm that retains key insights
Compare pattern characters to text from right to
left
Given a pattern, create a shift table:
Has a shift value for each possible character
Determines how much to shift the pattern when a
mismatch occurs (input enhancement)
Note: the pattern is still shifted left to right. Only
comparison is right to left
How Far to Shift?
Three cases (look to last character C in mismatched text
segment):
C is not in the pattern # shift by m
.....D...................... (D not in pattern)
BAOBAB
$ BAOBAB
C is in the pattern (but not at last position) # align
rightmost occurrence in pattern with text
.....O...................... (O occurs once in
pattern)
BAOBAB
$ BAOBAB
C produced a match # shift by m OR align to rightmost
occurrence before last
.....B......................
Shift Table
Stores number of characters to shift by depending on
first character compared
Construct by scanning pattern before searching starts
Indexed by the alphabet of text and pattern
All entries are initialized to pattern length. Eg, BAOBAB:
For c occurring in pattern, update table entry to
distance of rightmost occurrence of c from end of
pattern
We can do this by processing pattern from L$R
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Horspools Algorithm
1. Construct the Shift Table for a given pattern
and alphabet
2. Align the pattern against the beginning of
the text
3. Repeat until a match is found or the
pattern reaches beyond the text:
Starting from the pattern end, compare
corresponding characters until all m are matched
(success!) or a mismatch is found
On a mismatch, retrieve the shift table entry t(c),
where c is the text character aligned with the end
of the pattern. Shift the pattern right by t(c)
Example: Horspools
Algorithm
Pattern: ZIGZAG
Text: A ZIG, A ZAG, AGAIN A ZIGZAG
Shift Table:
Exercise: Simulate the execution of
Horspools Algorithm
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 6 6 6 6 6 3 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 2
Boyer-Moore Algorithm
Based on same two ideas:
Compare pattern characters to text from right to
left
Given a pattern, create a shift table that
determines how much to shift the pattern
Except:
Uses an additional good-suffix shift table with
same idea applied to the number of matched
characters
Efficiency:
Horspools approach is simpler and at least as
efficient in the average case
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Space-Time Tradeoffs
!
Strengths:
Suited to amortised situations
Particularly effective in accelerating
access to data
!
Weaknesses:
Can be space expensive and this might
have empirical effects on speed