APPLIED ALGORITHMS

Algo and DST Thinking

+ Implementation Skills
1 Introduction

2 Practical skill

3 Ad Hoc Problems

3 / 45
1 Introduction
Introduction
Objectives
References
Exercise template
Example – ALICEADD
Instant and online evaluation system
Responses from the instant and online evaluation systems

2 Practical skill

3 Ad Hoc Problems

4 / 45
Introduction to programming exercises

Main objective: Proposed correct algorithms and executable programs

fastest as much as possible!

5 / 45
Objectives

Given a real-life programming problem, the students can

I propose problem formulations,
I propose the right efficient algorithms and data structures for the
problem; and then
I translate the proposed algorithms and data structures to source code
and executable programs;
in a predefined time amount such that the program returns the
correct solutions in limited computation and memory resources.

The objective of this course is to provide and to enhance these skills

(the data structure, algorithm and programming skills to solve real-life
problems).

6 / 45
Approaches

Study common classes of programming problems

Find out applications of data structures and algorithms based on
knowledge in
I the fundamental algorithm course,
I the fundamental data structure course
Study and present other common classes of algorithms and data
structures
Study simple maths and informatics theory related to solving problem
by computer
Practice algorithm and data-structure proposal skills
Enhance the programming skill
Practice more and more these skills

7 / 45
References

Competitive Programming. Steven Halim http://libgen.io/ads.

php?md5=f6f195012783a8b3c8bb7628882a51b7
Slides bài giảng Phân tích và thiết kế thuật toán. Nguyễn Đức Nghĩa
Algorithm design. Jon Kleinberg and Éva Tardos.
Introduction to Algorithms. T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, R.L. Rivest,
C. Stein.
Bài giảng Chuyên đề Lê Minh Hoàng
Competitive Programming Course at Reykjavík University

8 / 45
Contents

Tentative plan
No. Timeline Topics Activities
1 Introduction
2 Data structure and libraries
3 Lab
4 Recursion and Branch-and-bound algorithm
5 Conquer and divide
6 Dynamic programming
7 Lab
8 Lab and mid-term test
9 Dynamic programming
10 Graph
11 Lab
12 Graph
13 String processing
14 Lab
15 NP-hard problems

9 / 45
Exercise templates

In most exercises, an exercise contains:

I Problem description
I Input description
I Output description
I Examples of input and output
I Computation time limit in seconds
I Memory limit in bytes/megabytes
Task is to write an executable program to solve problem instances
(different inputs) as many as possible.
I The input data, in default, is correct; the program is not required to
check its correctness.
I The program runs in the given computation time and memory limits.

10 / 45
Example of a problem – ALICEADD

Problem description
Alice has a candies, Bob gives Alice more b candies. How many candies
does Alice have in total?

Input description
The first line contains an integer T (1 ≤ T ≤ 10) which is number of tests
(instances). In T following lines, each of them includes a test. One test
consists of 2 non-negative integers a, b, in which 0 ≤ a, b ≤ 1018 , and they
are separated by at least one space.

Output description
Outputs are written in T lines corresponding to T tests, each line is result
of a + b for each test.

11 / 45
Example of a problem – ALICEADD

Input Output

2
8
3 5
5
4 1

12 / 45
Solution to the problem
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
int a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

13 / 45
Solution to the problem
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
int a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is the above answer correct for all tests?

13 / 45
Solution to the problem
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
int a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is the above answer correct for all tests?

What happens when a = b = 1018 ?

13 / 45
Solution to the problem
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
int a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is the above answer correct for all tests?

What happens when a = b = 1018 ? The result value is bigger than the
maximum value of an integer variable.

13 / 45
Solution to the problem
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
int a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is the above answer correct for all tests? NO!

What happens when a = b = 1018 ? The result value is bigger than the
maximum value of an integer variable.

13 / 45
Solution to the problem

When a = b = 1018 , the correct result is 2 × 1018

14 / 45
Solution to the problem

When a = b = 1018 , the correct result is 2 × 1018

The result value is too big for a 32-bit integer variable, so it leads to
overflow.

14 / 45
Solution to the problem

When a = b = 1018 , the correct result is 2 × 1018

The result value is too big for a 32-bit integer variable, so it leads to
overflow.
Use of 64-bit integer variables will lead to a correct solution.

14 / 45
Correct solution
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
long long a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

15 / 45
Correct solution
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
long long a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is this answer correct?

15 / 45
Correct solution
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
long long a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is this answer correct? RIGHT!

15 / 45
Correct solution
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
long long a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is this answer correct? RIGHT!

What is solution in case the values of a and b are larger?

15 / 45
Correct solution
# include < iostream >
using namespace std ;
int main () {
int T ;
cin >> T ;
for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
long long a , b ;
cin >> a >> b ;
cout << a + b << endl ;
}
return 0;
}

Is this answer correct? RIGHT!

What is solution in case the values of a and b are larger?
Large-number processing!
15 / 45
Instant and online evaluation system
codeforces.com
vn.spoj.com
https://ru.kattis.com/
...

The system responses immediately when an answer is submitted

Accepted programming languages:
I C/C++
I Java
I Python
I Pascal
I ...

16 / 45
Instant and online evaluation system
codeforces.com
vn.spoj.com
https://ru.kattis.com/
...

The system responses immediately when an answer is submitted

Accepted programming languages:
I C/C++
I Java
I Python
I Pascal
I ...

Our university uses private server codeforces to help students practice

solving problems online and using the cms system combined with the
automatic code matching system to check plagiarism in the exams.

16 / 45
Responses from the instant and online evaluation systems

The responses are simple, as follows:

I Accepted
I Wrong Answer
I Compile Error
I Run Time Error
I Time Limit Exceeded
I Memory Limit Exceeded
Some servers give a response for each test, but in general, they just
return simple responses as above.

17 / 45
1 Introduction

2 Practical skill
A. Problem-reading skill
B. Problem-classification skill
C. Algorithm-analysis skill
D. Skill to master programming languages
E. Variable naming skill
F. Skill to test the program
G. Typing skill
G. Practice, practice more and practice forever

3 Ad Hoc Problems

18 / 45
A. Problem-reading skill

Problem background: This represents applications of the problem in

the real life
Problem description
Input and output description
Examples of input and output for simple test.
Computation time and memory limits for tests.

19 / 45
Is the problem background important?

NO?
I Example: “Write a program to sort n real numbers. Memory limit is
3MB. Computation time limit is 1 second. Limit of input size is
n ≤ 106 . Limit of real number value is in 4 bytes real number range
with input format with exactly two digits after floating point.
I Short and clear!
Informatics: MUST HAVE!!!

20 / 45
Is the problem background important?

Informatics: MUST HAVE!!!

I Ví dụ: The Fibonacci sheet music is a piece of music whose melody is
derived from one of the most famous sequence of numbers in Number
Theory - the Fibonacci numbers. The first two numbers in the
sequence are 1 and 2, and the subsequent numbers are determined by
the sum of the two consecutive numbers immediately preceding it in
the sequence. The Fibonacci sheet music is obtained by converting the
Fibonacci sequence into a sequence of notes following the rule of
converting a positive integer into a musical note later:

Click here
I Raise the motivation for students (problem solver)
I An application of a computer science topic

21 / 45
B. Problem-classification skill
Classify quickly problems into popular distinct classes
Combine different classes of problems

Example of popular classes:

Classes Sub-classes
Ad-Hoc Direct, Simulation
Exhaustive search Loop, Backtracking, Branch-and-bound
Conquer and divide Traditional and new approaches
Conquer and decrease Traditional and new approaches
Greedy Traditional and improved approaches
Dynamic programming Traditional and improved approaches
Graph Traditional and improved approaches
Special graph Traditional and improved approaches
Maths Traditional and improved approaches
String processing Traditional and improved approaches
Geographic computation Traditional and improved approaches
Some special algorithm groups

22 / 45
C. Algorithm-analysis skill

The solution should be fast enough and not use too much memory.
The solution should be as simple as possible.
Use algorithm analysis method to determine if the expected solution
satisfies memory and computation time limit.
In general, a simple personal computer can do 5 × 108 calculations
per second.
For example, sorting n ≤ 106 integer numbers in 3 seconds
I Can the bubble sort algorithm (O(n2 )) solve completely that task?
I Can a quick sort and complicated algorithm (O(n log n)) solve
completely that task?
For example, sorting n ≤ 103 integer numbers in 1 seconds
I So, can the bubble sort algorithm (O(n2 )) solve completely that task?
Remember that the simplest algorithm satisfying all requirements in
computation time and memory resources is the best choice.

23 / 45
Practice the computation time approximation
Hint:
I 210 ≈ 103
I log2 10 ≈ 3

In the case, you are not sure about the correctness of the algorithm,
please find a proof for that algorithm. Even if you can not prove or
disprove it, you still can understand more the problem.

24 / 45
 n Complexity Example
≤ 10 O(n!), O(n6 ) Enumerate all permutations
≤ 15 O(2n × n2 ) Dynamic programming for TSP
≤ 20 O(2n ), O(n5 ) Enumerate binary permutations, Dynamic programming
≤ 50 O(n4 ) 3&4-dimension dynamic programming, Enumerate combinations n Ck = 4
≤ 102 O(n3 ) Floyd Warshall
≤ 103 O(n2 ) Bubble/Insertion/Selection sort
≤ 105 O(n log2 n) Merge sort, Segment/Interval tree
≤ 106 O(n), O(log2 n), O(1) Input reading n ≤ 106

25 / 45
D. Skill to master programming languages

Master popular programming languages (at least one)

Master built-in libraries
I C++’s Standard Template Library
I The Java Class Library
If it is already in the standard library, you don’t need to re-implement
it, you should use libraries to do program faster and bug free.
Limitations: the library’s customizability is not high. A lot of the
algorithmic processing parts cannot use the library directly, but they
must be customized.

26 / 45
E. Variable naming skill
Names should be meaningful
Function name starts with capital letter, for example, void
ReadInp()
All letter in a constant name are capital, for example, const int
MAX=100000;
Array name starts with a letter a, following by a capital letter, for
example, int aCost[MAX];
String-variable names start with a letter s, following by a capital
letter, for example, string sLine[100];
Name of a vector variable starts a letter v, following by a capital
letter, for example, vector<int> vList;
Name of a single variable name should contain lower letters, for
example, int i, u, sum, res;
Variable names should be as close to the names/nous given in the
problem as possible.
...
27 / 45
F. Skill to test the program

Test to make sure the outputs of the program are correct and the
program runs in the limited time amount.

Try to diagnose the solution to the problem by finding

counterexamples (an input where the solution returns incorrect, or
takes too long time to find the result).
Do experiments with boundary-value instances and large-size
instances.
Write a simple program to check the correctness of solutions for
small-size tests.

28 / 45
G. Typing skill

Become a faster and more accurate keyboard typist;

Don’t let keyboard typing limit your problem solving;
During typing without looking at the keyboard, eyes looking at the
screen for checking the correctness of typing, while the head can still
think in parallel to the next problem.

TypeRacer is an efficient and interesting tool for practicing typing:

http://play.typeracer.com/

29 / 45
H: Practice, practice more and practice forever

The more you practice, the more you improve your problem solving
and programming skills.
There are many websites to help you practice solving problems from
past tests.
There exist some websites which regularly host competitions such as
UVa, Codeforces, TopCoder, Kattis.

Programmers participating regularly competitions, like athletes, need

regular practice to stay inspired and develop problem solving skills!

30 / 45
Ad Hoc Problems
1 Introduction

2 Practical skill

3 Ad Hoc Problems
Adhoc problems
Problem: Cut down store
Problem: SMS typing

32 / 45
Adhoc problems

A class of simple and easy problems

Solution can be derived directly problem descriptions
Direct or simulation
Computation time limit does not matter
Sometime the description is long, unclear and confusing
Some complex problems cause difficulties in programming

33 / 45
Problem: Cut down store

The COVID19 epidemic made people very limited out of their homes, which
pushed many companies out of business and many others had to cut down their
stores, offices, and to fire employee, to reduce salary and bonus budget.

XTEC Company is not an exception. It has 4 stores and decides to cut down 2 of
them with the lowest negative profits in 2019.
bf Requirements: Given the 2019 profit of the 4 stores, please indicate the total
negative profit of the stores that must be closed.

34 / 45
Cut down store

Input

The first line contains an integer T (T < 20), which is the number of tests.
In T following lines, each of them contains 4 distinct integers representing
profits of the stores in 2019. The values of the integers are in
[−10000, 10000].

Kết quả ra
The result of each test is written in a line, which is the total negative profit of the
stores that must be closed.

35 / 45
Problem: Cut down store

Input Output

3
-5000
-1000 2000 3000 -4000
-2500
3000 -2500 1500 100
-2700
-1500 -1200 -1800 -1900

36 / 45
Solution to the problem “Cut down store”
1 # include < bits / stdc ++. h >
2 using namespace std ;
3 int main () {
4 ios_base :: sync_with_stdio (0);
5 cin . tie (0); cout . tie (0);
6
7 int aProfit [4];
8 int T ; cin >> T ;
9 for ( int i = 0; i < T ; i ++) {
10 cin >> aProfit [1] >> aProfit [2];
11 cin >> aProfit [3] >> aProfit [4];
12 sort ( aProfit , aProfit + 4);
13 int sum =0;
14 if ( aProfit [1] <0) sum += aProfit [1];
15 if ( aProfit [2] <0) sum += aProfit [2];
16 cout << sum << endl ;
17 }
18 return 0;
19 }
37 / 45
Problem: SMS typing

Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of modern life. In addition to

making calls, mobile phones can send messages that are called as SMS. Unlike
computer keyboards, most mobile phones have limited number of keys. To be able
to type all the letters of the alphabet, multiple letters are displayed on the same
key. Therefore, to type certain letters, a key must be pressed repeatedly until the
desired letter appears on the screen.

Given a text, you are asked for counting the number of keystrokes to display
whole text on the screen.

38 / 45
Problem: SMS typing

The assumption, the layout of keys is as follows:

abc def
ghi jkl mno
pqrs tuv wxyz
<SP>

In the table, a cell represents one key. <SP> represents the space key. To display
letter ’a’, you will have to press the corresponding key 1 time, but to display ’b’ of
the same key, you will have to press twice continuously and for ’c’ key 3 times.
Similarly, press 1 time for ’d’, twice for ’e’ and 3 times for ’f’. The other letters
are also done in the same way. Note that to create a space, you need to press the
space key once.

39 / 45
Problem: SMS typing

Input
The first line is an integer T , which is the number of tests. In T following lines,
each line contains a text with spaces and lower case letters. Each line has at least
one letter and at most 100 letters.

Output
The result of a test is written in a line in the output. Each line begins with the
test order and is followed by a number indicating the number of keystrokes that
produce the corresponding text. Please See the example output for the correct
format!

40 / 45
Problem: SMS typing

Input Output

2
Case #1: 29
welcome to ulab
Case #2: 41
good luck and have fun

41 / 45
Solution to the problem “SMS typing”
1 # include < cstdio >
2 # include < iostream >
3 # include < string >
4 using namespace std ;
5 string keys [12] = {
6 "", " abc " , " def " ,
7 " ghi " , " jkl " , " mno " ,
8 " pqrs " , " tuv " , " wxyz " ,
9 "", " ", ""
10 };
11 int main () {
12 int T ;
13 scanf ( " % d \ n " , & T );
14 for ( int t = 0; t < T ; t ++) {
15 // Each test case is handled here
16 }
17 return 0;
18 }

42 / 45
Solution to the problem “SMS typing”

19 // Each test case :

20 string line ;
21 getline ( cin , line );
22 int cnt = 0;
23 for ( int i = 0; i < line . size (); i ++) {
24 int cur ;
25 for ( int j = 0; j < 12; j ++) {
26 for ( int k = 0; k < keys [ j ]. size (); k ++)
27 if ( line [ i ] == keys [ j ][ k ]) {
28 cur = k + 1;
29 }
30 }
31 }
32 cnt += cur ;
33 }
34 printf ( " Case #% d : % d \ n " , t + 1 , cnt );

43 / 45
 Practical exercises
ALICEADD
SUBSEQMAX
45 / 45