Flowcharts

INTRODUCTION

Here are the steps that may be followed to solve an algorithmic problem:

● Analyzing the problem statement means making the objective of the program clear
in our minds like what the input is and what is the required output.
● Sometimes the problems are of complex nature, to make them easier to
understand, we can break-down the problem into smaller sub-parts.
● In order to save our time in debugging our code, we should first-of-all write down
the solution on a paper with basic steps that would help us get a clear intuition of
what we are going to do with the problem statement.
● In order to make the solution error-free, the next step is to verify the solution by
checking it with a bunch of test cases.
● Now, we clearly know what we are going to do in the code. In this step we will start
coding our solution on the compiler.

Basically, in order to structure our solution, we use flowcharts. A flowchart would be a

diagrammatic representation of our algorithm - a step-by-step approach to solve our
problem.

Flowcharts

Uses of Flowcharts

➔ Used in documentation.
➔ Used to communicate one’s solution with others, basically used for group projects.
➔ To check out at any step what we are going to do and get a clear explanation of the
flow of statements.

Flowchart components

● Terminators

1
 Mainly used to denote the start point of the program.

Used to denote the end point of the program.

● Input/Output

Used for taking input from the user and store it in variable ‘var’.

Used to output value stored in variable ‘var’.

● Process

Used to perform the operation(s) in the program. For example:

Sum(2, 3) just performs arithmetic summation of the numbers 2 and
3.

● Decision

Used to make decision(s) in the program means it depends on some

condition and answers in the form of TRUE(for yes) and FALSE(for
no).

● Arrows

Generally, used to show the flow of the program from one step to another. The
head of the arrow shows the next step and the tail shows the previous one.

● Connector

2
 Used to connect different parts of the program and are used in case of
break-through. Generally, used for functions(which we will study in our
further sections).

Example 1:
Suppose we have to make a flowchart for adding 2 numbers a and b.

Solution:

Example 2:
Suppose we have to check if a number is even or odd.

Solution:

3
Note: ​ Operator % is used to find the remainder of a number with respect to another
number. F
​ or example:

● 4%3=1
● 10 % 5 = 0
● 4%2=0
● 4%4=0
● 0%1=0
● 1 % 0 = undefined (as it leads to division by 0)

Example 3:
To print the numbers less than or equal to n where n is given by the user.

Solution:

4
Summary

● Flowcharts are the building-block of any program written in any language.

● Different shapes used to have different meanings.
● Every problem can be represented in the form of a flow chart.

5
 ● Sometimes, it becomes a bulky process to represent any program using flowchart.
In those cases, try to find out the optimal solution to the given problem.

Practice Problems

Till now in examples we learnt how to draw decision making blocks and how to manage
looping the same part again and again until the condition is not satisfied.

Using the concepts shown above, here are few tricky flowchart problems for your practice :

● Check if a given number, N is positive or negative.

● Find the average of 3 given numbers.
● Given 3 numbers, check whether a valid triangle can be formed using these
numbers or not. Print YES or NO.
● Given a number N, print N! (N factorial).
● Given a number N, print even numbers upto N.
● Given a number N, check if it is prime or not. Print YES or NO.

6
 Java Foundation with Data Structures
Lecture 2 : Getting Started

a) About Eclipse

Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE) for developing

applications using the Java programming language and many other programming
languages. The Java Development Tools (JDT) project provides a plug-in that
allows Eclipse to be used as a Java IDE.

A new Java class can be created using the New Java Class wizard. The Java Class
wizard can be invoked in different ways –
1. By clicking on the File menu and selecting New → Class, or
2. By right clicking in the package explorer and selecting New → Class, or
3. By clicking on the class drop down button and selecting class.

Note : W​ e will understand what classes are when we will study Object Oriented
Programming. For now you can assume them as a file. Also name of class and
.java file inside which we have this class should be same.

b) About Main

Consider the following line of code:

public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] args)

1. This is the line at which the program will begin executing. This statement
is similar to start block in flowcharts. All Java programs begin execution
by calling main()
2. We will understand what public, static, void mean in subsequent
lectures. For now we should assume that we have to write main as it is.
3. The curly braces {} indicate start and end of main.

c) print / println

In order to print things to console we have to write - System.​out​.println("Hello

World"). Again for now we should leave System.out.print mean, and should write
it as it is.
The built-in method print() is used to display the string which is passed to it. This
output string is not followed by a newline, i.e., the next output will start on the
same line. The built-in method println() is similar to print(), except that println()
outputs a newline after each call.
Example Code:

public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] args) {

System.​out​.println("Hello World");
System.​out​.println("Programming is fun");
}

Output:
Hello World
Programming is fun

Variables
a) Add two numbers

Consider the following code for adding two numbers

public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] args) {

int num1 = 10;
int num2 = 5;
int ans = num1 + num2;
System.​out​.println("Sum =" +ans);
}

Output:
15

Here, we used variables to store values of two integers and their sum. Thus, a
variable is a basic unit of storage in a Java program.

Syntax for Declaring a Variable:

type variable_name [ = value];

Here, type is one of Java’s primitive datatypes. The variable_name is the name of
a variable. We can initialize the variable by specifying an equal sign and a value
(Initialization is optional). However, the compiler never assigns a default value to
an uninitialized local variable in Java.

While writing variable names you should be careful and follow the rules for
naming them. Following are the rules for writing variable names -
 1. All variable names may contain uppercase and lowercase letters (a-z, A-Z),
underscore ( _ ), dollar sign ($) and the digits 0 to 9. The dollar sign character
is not intended for general use. No spaces and no other special characters
are allowed.
2. The variable names must not begin with a number.
3. Java is case-sensitive. Uppercase characters are distinct from lowercase
characters.
4. A Java keyword (reserved word) cannot be used as a variable name.

b) Data types of variables

Based on the data type of a variable, the operating system allocates memory and
decides what can be stored in the reserved memory. Therefore, by assigning
different data types to variables, we can store integers, decimals, or characters in
these variables.

There are eight primitive data types in Java:

DATA TYPE DEFAULT VALUE DEFAULT SIZE

char '\0' (null 2 bytes

character)
byte 0 1 byte
short 0 2 bytes
int 0 4 bytes
long 0L 8 bytes
Float 0.0f 4 bytes
Double 0.0d 8 bytes
Boolean false Not specified

c) Code for calculating Simple Interest

Example Code:

public class SimpleInterest {

public static void main​(String[] args) {
double principal = 2500.0, rate = 6.0, time = 5.0;
double si = (principal * rate * time) / 100;
System.​out​.println("Simple Interest = " + si);
}
}
 Output:
Simple Interest = 750.0

Taking Input
a) Scanner

The Java Scanner class breaks the input into tokens using a delimiter that is
whitespace by default. It provides many ways to read and parse various
primitive values.
In order to use scanner you have to write this import statement at the top –
import java.util.Scanner;

Example Code:

//Code for adding two integers entered by the user

import java.util.Scanner;
class AddTwoNumbers
{
public static void ​main(String args[])
{
int a, b, c;
System.​out​.println("Enter two integers to calculate their sum: ");

// Create a Scanner
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.​in​);
a = s.nextInt();
b = s.nextInt();
c = a + b;
System.​out​.println("Sum of entered integers = "+c);
}
}

Sample Input:
10 5
Output:
15
Here, s.nextInt() scans and returns the next token as int. A token is part of entered
line that is separated from other tokens by space, tab or newline. So when input
line is: “10 5” then s.nextInt() returns the first token i.e. “10” as int and s.nextInt()
again ​returns the next token i.e. “5” as int.
b) Code for calculating simple interest taking input from user

Example Code:

import java.util.Scanner;

public class SimpleInterest {

public static void main​(String[] args) {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.​in​);
double si, principal, rate, time;
principal = input.nextDouble();
rate = input.nextDouble();
time = input.nextDouble();
si = (principal * rate * time) / 100;
System.​out​.println("Simple Interest= " + si);
}
}

Sample Input:
2500.0 6.0 5.0

Output:
750.0

c) Taking character input

To read a character as input, we use next().charAt(0). The next() function returns

the next token in the input as a string and charAt(0) function returns the first
character in that string.

Example code to read a character as input:

import java.util.Scanner;
public class ScannerDemo1 {
public static void main​(String[] args) {
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.​in​);
char ch = s.next().charAt(0); // character input
System.​out​.println("input character = " +ch);
}
}

Sample Input:
k
Output:
input character = k

Example code to take a string as input:

public static void main​(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.​in​);
String str;
str = s.next();
System.​out​.print(str);
}

Sample Input:
Coding Ninjas
Output:
Coding

Here, s.next() returns the next token as String. A token is part of entered line that
is separated from other tokens by space, tab or newline. So when input line is -
“Coding Ninjas” then s.next() returns the first token i.e. “Coding”.

d) Other scanner options

Some commonly used Scanner class methods are as follows:

METHOD DESCRIPTION

public String next() It returns the next token from the Scanner.
public String nextLine() It moves the Scanner position to the next line
and returns the value as a string.
public byte nextByte() It scans the next token as a byte.
public short nextShort() It scans the next token as a short value.
public int nextInt() It scans the next token as an int value.
public long nextLong() It scans the next token as a long value.
public float nextFloat() It scans the next token as a float value.
public double It scans the next token as a double value.
nextDouble()

Example code:

public static void main​(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.​in​);
int a = s.nextInt();
 String str = s.nextLine();
System.out.println(a);
System.out.println(str);
}

Sample Input:
100 Hello World
Output:
100
Hello World

Here, s.nextInt() scans and returns the next token as int. A token is part of entered
line that is separated from other tokens by space, tab or newline. So when input
line is - “100 Hello World” then s.nextInt() returns the first token as int i.e. “100”
and s.nextLine() returns remaining part of line i.e “ (space)Hello World”

How is Data Stored ?

a) How are integers stored ?

The most commonly used integer type is int which is a signed 32-bit type.
When you store an integer, its corresponding binary value is stored. The way
integers are stored differs for negative and positive numbers. For positive
numbers the integral value is simple converted into binary value and for negative
numbers their 2’s compliment form is stored.
Let’s discuss How are Negative Numbers Stored?

Computers use 2's complement in representing signed integers because:

1. There is only one representation for the number zero in 2's complement,
instead of two representations in sign-magnitude and 1's complement.

2. Positive and negative integers can be treated together in addition and

subtraction. Subtraction can be carried out using the "addition logic".

Example:

int i = -4;
Steps to calculate Two’s Complement of -4 are as follows:

Step 1: Take Binary Equivalent of the positive value (4 in this case)

0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0100
Step 2: Write 1's complement of the binary representation by inverting the bits

1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1011

Step 3: Find 2's complement by adding 1 to the corresponding 1's complement

1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1011

+0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001
------------------------------------------------------------
1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1100

Thus, integer -4 is represented by the binary sequence (1111 1111 1111 1111
1111 1111 1111 1100) in Java.

b) Float and Double values

In Java, any value declared with decimal point is by default of type double (which
is of 8 bytes). If we want to assign a float value (which is of 4 bytes), then we must
use ‘f’ or ‘F’ literal to specify that current value is “float”.

Example:
float float_val = 10.4f; //float value
double val = 10.4; //double value

c) How are characters stored

Java uses Unicode to represent characters. As we know system only understands

binary language and thus everything has to be stored in the form binaries. So for
every character there is corresponding code – Unicode/ASCII code and binary
equivalent of this code is actually stored in memory when we try to store a char.
Unicode defines a fully international character set that can represent all the
characters found in all human languages. In Java, char is a 16-bit type. The range
of a char is 0 to 65,536.

Example code:

public static void main​(String[] args) {

char ch1, ch2;
ch1 = 88; //ASCII value for ‘X’
ch2 = ‘Y’;
System.out.println(ch1 +" " +ch2);
}
Output:
XY

Adding int to char

When we add int to char, we are basically adding two numbers i.e. one
corresponding to the integer and other is corresponding code for the char.

Example code:

public static void main​(String[] args) {

System.out.println(‘a’ + 1);
}

Output:
98

Here, we added a character and an int, so it added the ASCII value of char ‘a’ i.e
97 and int 1. So, answer will be 98.

Similar logic applies to adding two chars as well, when two chars are added their
codes are actually added i.e. ‘a’ + ‘b’ wil give 195.

Typecasting

1. Widening or Automatic type conversion:

In Java, automatic type conversion takes place when the two types are compatible
and size of destination type is larger than source type.

2. Narrowing or Explicit type conversion:

When we are assigning a larger type value to a variable of smaller type, then we
need to perform explicit type casting.

Example code:

public static void main​(String[] args) {

int i = 100;
long l1 = i; //automatic type casting

double d = 100.04;
long l2 = (long)d; //explicit type casting
System.out.println(i);
System.out.println(l1);
 System.out.println(d);
System.out.println(l2);
}

Output:
100
100
100.04
100

Operators
a) Arithmetic operators

Arithmetic operators are used in mathematical expression in the same way that
are used in algebra.

OPERATOR DESCRIPTION
+ Adds two operands
- Subtracts second operand from first
* Multiplies two operands
/ Divides numerator by denominator
% Calculates Remainder of division

b) Relational operators

Relational Operators are the operators that used to test some king of relation
between two entities. The following table lists the relation operators supported
by Java.

OPERATOR DESCRIPTION
== Check if two operands are equal
!= Check if two operands are not equal.
> Check if operand on the left is greater than operand on
the right
< Check if operand on the left is smaller than right
operand
>= Check if left operand is greater than or equal to right
operand
<= Check if operand on left is smaller than or equal to right
operand
 c) Logical operators

Java supports following 3 logical operators. The result of logical operators is a

Boolean i.e. true or false.

OPERATOR DESCRIPTION
&& al AND
|| al OR
! al NOT

Example:
Suppose a = true and b= false, then:
(a && b) is false
(a || b) is true
(!a) is false
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Java  Foundation  with  Data  Structures  
Lecture  3  :  Conditionals  and  Loops    

 
  
Conditional  Statements  (if  else)  
Description  
 
Conditionals  are  used  to  execute  a  certain  section  of  code  only  if  some  
specific  condition  is  fulfilled,  and  optionally  execute  other  statements  if  
the  given  condition  is  false.    The  result  of  given  conditional  expression  
must  be  either  true  or  false.  

 
 
Different  variations  of  this  conditional  statement  are  –    
•   if  statement  
if  statement  evaluates  the  given  test  expression.  If  it  is  evaluated  
to  true,  then  statements  inside  the  if  block  will  be  executed.  
Otherwise,  statements  inside  if  block  is  skipped.  
 
Syntax  
 
if(test_expression)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  only  when  
test_expression  is  true  
}  
 
Example  Code  
 
public  static  void  main(String  args[])  {  
    int  n  =  5;  

 
  
    if(  n  <  10  )  {  
      System.out.print("Inside  if  statement");  
    }  
    System.out.println("Outside  if  statement");  
}  
 
Output  
Inside  if  statement  
Outside  if  statement  
 
So  if  the  condition  given  inside  if  parenthesis  is  true,  then  
statements  inside  if  block  are  executed  first  and  then  rest  of  the  
code.  And  if  the  condition  evaluates  to  false,  then  statements  
inside  if  block  will  be  skipped.    
•   If  –  else  statement  
if  statement  evaluates  the  given  test  expression.  If  it  is  evaluated  
to  true,  then  statements  inside  the  if  block  will  be  executed.  
Otherwise,  statements  inside  else    block  will  be  executed.  After  
that,  rest  of  the  statements  will  be  executed  normally.  
 
Syntax  
 
if(test_expression)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  when  test_expression  
is  true  
   
}  
else  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  when  test_expression  
is  false  
}  
 
Example  Code:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  a  =  10,  b  =  20;  
    if(a  >  b)  {  
      System.out.println("a  is  bigger");  
    }  
    else  {  
      System.out.println("b  is  bigger");  
    }  

 
  
}  
 
Output  
b  is  bigger  
•   if  –  else  –  if  
Using  this  we  can  execute  statements  based  on  multiple  
conditions.    
 
Syntax  
 
if(test_expression_1)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  only  when  
test_expression_1  is  true  
}  
else  if(test_expression_2)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  only  when  
test_expression_1  is  false  and  test_expression_2  is  true  
}  
else  if(test_expression_2)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  only  when  
test_expression_1  &  test_expression_2  are  false  and  
test_expression_3  is  true  
}  
....  
....  
else  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  only  when  all  the  above  
test  expressions  are  false  
}  
 
Out  of  all  block  of  statements,  only  one  will  be  executed  based  on  
the  given  test  expression,  all  others  will  be  skipped.  As  soon  as  
any  expression  evaluates  to  ttue,  that  block  of  statement  will  be  
executed  and  rest  will  be  skipped.  If  none  of  the  expression  
evaluates  to  true,  then  the  statements  inside  else  will  be  
executed.    
 
Example  Code:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  a  =  5;  
    if(a  <  3)  {  

 
  
      System.out.println("one");  
    }  
    else  if(a  <  10)  {  
      System.out.println("two");  
    }  
    else  if(a  <  20)  {  
      System.out.println("three");  
    }  
    else  {  
      System.out.println("four");  
    }  
}  
Output  :    
two  
 
•   Nested  if  statament  
We  can  put  another  if  –  else  statament  inside  an  if.  
 
Syntax  
 
if(test_expression_1)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  when  
test_expression_1  is  true  
  if(test_expression_2)  {  
    //  Statements  to  be  executed  when  
test_expression_2  is  true  
  }  
  else  {  
    //  Statements  to  be  executed  when  
test_expression_2  is  false  
  }  
}  
 
Example  Code:    
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  a  =  15;  
    if(a  >  10)  {  
      if(a  >  20)  {  
        System.out.println("Hello");  
      }  
      else  {  

 
  
        System.out.println("Hi");  
      }  
    }  
}  
 
Output  :    
Hi  

return  keyword  
return  is  a  special  keyword,  when  encountered  ends  the  main.  That  
means,  no  statament  will  be  executed  after  return  statament.    We’ll  
study  in  more  detail  when  we’ll  study  functions.  
 
Example  Code:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  a  =  10;  
    if(a  >  5)  {  
      System.out.println("Hello");  
      return;  
    }  
    System.out.println("Hi");  
}  
 
Output  :    
Hello  

while  loop  
Loop  statements  allows  us  to  execute  a  block  of  statamenets  several  
number  of  times  depending  on  certain  condition.  while  is  one  kind  of  
loop  that  we  can  use.    
When  executing,  if  the  test_expression  result  is  true,  then  the  actions  
inside  the  loop  will  be  executed.  This  will  continue  as  long  as  the  
expression  result  is  true.  
 
Syntax  
 
while(test_expression)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  till  test_expression  is  true  
}  
 

 
  

 
 
 
Example  Code:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  i  =  1;  
    while(i  <=  5)  {  
      System.out.println(i);  
      i++;  
    }  
}  
 
Output  :    
1  
2  
3  
4  
5  
 
In  while  loop,  first  given  test  expression  will  be  checked.  If  that  evaluates  
to  be  true,  then  the  statements  inside  while  will  be  executed.  After  that,  
the  condition  will  be  checked  again  and  the  process  continues  till  the  
given  condition  becomes  false.    
 
 
 

 
Patterns
Introduction

Patterns are a handy application of loops and will provide you with better clarity
and understanding of the implementation of loops.

Before printing any pattern, you must consider the following three things:
● The first step in printing any pattern is to figure out the number of rows that
the pattern requires.
● Next, you should know how many columns are there in the i​th​ row.
● Once, you have figured out the number of rows and columns, then focus on
the pattern to print.

For eg. We want to print the following pattern for N rows: (​ Pattern 1.1)

// For N=4:
****
****
****
****

Approach:
From the above pattern, we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 4 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns:​ All the rows have 4 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print: ​We have to print *
​ ​ 4 times in all the 4 rows. Thus, in a pattern
of N rows, we will have to print ​*​ N times in all the rows.

Now, let us discuss how to implement such patterns using Java.

1
Java Implementation for Patterns
We generally need two loops to print patterns. The outer loop iterates over the rows,
while the inner nested loop is responsible for traversing the columns. The ​algorithm​ to
print any pattern can be described as follows:
● Accept the number of rows or size of the pattern from a user using the
.nextInt()​ function.
● Iterate the rows using the outer loop.
● Use the nested inner loop to handle the column contents. The internal loop
iteration depends on the values of the outer loop.
● Print the required pattern contents using the ​print​ function.
● Add a new line after each row.

The implementation of P
​ attern 1.1​ in Java will be:

Step 1:​ Let us first use a loop to traverse the rows. This loop will start at the first
row and go on till the N​th​ row. Below is the implementation of this loop:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N row
​// <Here goes the Nested Loop>
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

2
Printing a New Line:​ S
​ ince we need to print the pattern in multiple lines, we will
have to add a new line after each row. Thus for this purpose, we use an empty
print​ statement. The ​print​ function in Java, can be written as
System.out.println()​. ‘​ln​’ after print indicates a new line.

Step 2:​ Now, we need another loop to traverse the row during each iteration and
print the pattern; this can be done as follows:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print(“*”) ​// printing (*) in each column
col = col+​1​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

3
There are two popular types of patterns-related questions that are usually posed:

● Square Pattern - ​Pattern 1.1​ is square.

● Triangular Pattern

Let us now look at the implementation of some common patterns.

Square Patterns

Pattern 1.2

// N = 5
1​ ​1​ ​1​ ​1​ ​1
2​ ​2​ ​2​ ​2​ ​2
3​ ​3​ ​3​ ​3​ ​3
4​ ​4​ ​4​ ​4​ ​4
5​ ​5​ ​5​ ​5​ ​5

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 5 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are the same as the corresponding
row numbers. Thus in a pattern of N rows, all the entries of the ​ith​
​ row
​
are i
​
(1​st​ row has all 1’s, 2​nd​ row has all 2’s, and so on).

Java Implementation:

4
public static void​ main(String[] args) {
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print(row); ​// printing (*) in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 1.3

// N = 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 5 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.

5
 ➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are the same as the corresponding
column numbers. Thus in a pattern of N rows, all the entries of the ​ith
​
column are i
​ ​ (1​st​ column has all 1’s, 2​nd​ column has all 2’s, and so on).

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print(col); ​// printing (*) in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 1.4

// N = 5
5 4 3 2 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 4 3 2 1

6
Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 5 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are ​N-columnNumber+​1​. Thus in a
pattern of N rows, all the entries of the ​ith​
​ column
​
are N
​ -i+​1​ ​(1​st​ column has
all 5’s ​(​5-1​+​1​)​, 2​nd​ column has all 4’s (
​ ​5-2​+​1​)​, and so on).

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print(N-col+1); ​// printing (*) in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

This way there can be several other square patterns and you can easily print them using
this approach- ​By finding the number of Rows, Columns and What to print​.

7
Pattern 1.5

// N = 5
1 2 3 4 5
2 3 4 5 6
3 4 5 6 7
4 5 6 7 8
5 6 7 8 9

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 5 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print: ​The first entry in the 1​st​ row is 1, the first entry in the 2​nd​ row
is 2, and so on. Further, these values are incremented continuously by 1 in
the remaining entries of any particular row. Thus in a pattern of N rows, the
first entry of the ​ith​
​ row
​
is ​i​. The remaining entries in the i
​ th​
​ row are
i+​1​,i+​2​, ​and​ so on​.​ I​ t can be observed that any entry in this pattern can be
written as​ row+col​-1​.

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print(col+row​-1​); ​// printing in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)

8
 }
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Triangular Patterns

Pattern 1.6

// N = 5
1
2​ ​2
3​ ​3​ ​3
4​ ​4​ ​4​ ​4
5​ ​5​ ​5​ ​5​ ​5

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​The number of columns in any row is the same as the
corresponding row number.1​st​ row has 1 column, 2​nd​ row has 2 columns, and
so on. Thus, in a pattern of N rows, the i
​ th​
​ row will have ​i​ columns.
➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are the same as the corresponding
row numbers. Thus in a pattern of N rows, all the entries of the ​ith​
​ row
​
are i
​
(1​st​ row has all 1’s, 2​nd​ row has all 2’s, and so on).

9
Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= row) { ​//Loop will on for row times
System.out.print(row); ​// printing in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 1.7

// N = 5
1
1​ ​2
1​ ​2​ ​3
1​ ​2​ ​3​ ​4
1​ ​2​ ​3​ ​4​ ​5

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.

10
 ➔ Number of Columns: ​The number of columns in any row is the same as the
corresponding row number.1​st​ row has 1 column, 2​nd​ row has 2 columns, and
so on. Thus, in a pattern of N rows, the i
​ th​
​ row will have ​i​ columns.
➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are the same as the corresponding
column numbers. Thus in a pattern of N rows, all the entries of the ​ith
​
column are i
​ ​ (1​st​ column has all 1’s, 2​nd​ column has all 2’s, and so on).

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= row) { ​//Loop will on for row times
System.out.print(col); ​// printing in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 1.8

// N = 5
1
2​ ​3
4​ ​5​ ​6
7​ ​8​ ​9​ ​10

11
11 12 13 14 15

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 5 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​The number of columns in any row is the same as the
corresponding row number.1​st​ row has 1 column, 2​nd​ row has 2 columns, and
so on. Thus, in a pattern of N rows, the i
​ th​
​ row will have ​i​ columns.
➔ What to print: ​The pattern starts with 1 and then each column entry is
incremented by 1. Thus, we will initialize a variable ​temp=​1​. We will keep
printing the value of t
​ emp​ in the successive columns and upon printing, we
will increment the value of temp by 1.

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
int temp = 1;
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= row) { ​//Loop will on for row times
System.out.print(temp); ​// printing in each column
temp = temp+1;
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row

12
 }
}

Character Patterns

Pattern 1.9

// N = 4
ABCD
ABCD
ABCD
ABCD

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 4 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 4 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print:​ The 1​st​ column has all A’s, 2​nd​ column has all B’s, and so on.
The ​ASCII​ value of A is ​65​. In the 1​st​ column, the character corresponds to the
ASCII​ value 65 (
​ ​64​+​1​).​ In the 2​nd​ column, the character corresponds to the
ASCII​ value 66 (
​ ​64​+​2​)​. Thus, all the entries in the ​ith​
​ column are equal to the
character corresponding to the ​ASCII v
​ alue ​64​+i​. The ​char()​ function gives
the character associated with the integral ASCII value within the parentheses.

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows

13
 int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print((char)(​64​+col)); ​//print in each column
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 1.10

// N = 4
ABCD
BCDE
CDEF
DEFG

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 4 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​All the rows have 4 columns. Thus, in a pattern of N
rows, all the rows will have N columns.
➔ What to print:​ This pattern is very similar to P
​ attern 1.5.​ We can implement
this using a similar code with a minor change. Instead of integers, we need
capital letters of the same order. Instead of 1, we need A, instead of 2, we
need B and so on. A
​ SCII​ value of A is 65. Thus if we add 64 to all the entries
in P
​ attern 1.5 ​and find their A
​ SCII ​values, we will get our result. The ​char()
function gives the character associated with the integral​ ASCII v
​ alue within
the parentheses.

14
Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//Loop will on for N columns
System.out.print((char)(​64​+col+row-1)); ​//print character
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Practice Problems

Here are a few similar patterns problems for your practice. ​All the patterns have been
drawn for N=4.

A
AB
ABC
ABCD

12344321
123​**​321
12​****​21

15
1​******​1

ABCD
ABC
AB
A

4555
3455
2345
1234

1
11
202
3003

A
BB
CCC
DDDD

16
Patterns
Some Advanced Patterns

Pattern 2.1 - Inverted Triangle

// N = 3
* * *
* *
*

Approach:
From the above pattern, ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 3 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​The number of columns in any row is equal to
N-rowNumber+​1​.1​st​ row has 3 columns (
​ ​3-1​+​1​)​, 2​nd​ row has 2 columns
(​3-2​+​1​)​, and so on. Thus, in a pattern of N rows, the i
​ th​
​ row will have ​N-i+​1
columns.
➔ What to print: ​All the entries in any row are ​"*"​.

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N-row+1) { ​//​Number of columns = N-rowNumber+1
System.out.print(“*”); ​// printing in each column

1
 col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column (Inner Loop)
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 2.2 - Reversed Pattern

// N = 3
*
* *
* * *

Approach:
From the above pattern, ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 3 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​The number of columns in any row is equal to N
​ ​.
➔ What to print: ​In the 1​st​ row, while c
​ olumnNumber <= ​2​(3-1)​, we print a ​" "
in every column. Beyond the 2​nd​ column, we print a "
​ *"​. Similarly, in the 2​nd
row, we print a "
​ "​ till ​columnNumber <=​1​(3-2)​ ​and beyond the 1​st​ column,
we print a ​"*"​. We can easily notice that if ​col <= N-rowNumber​, we are
printing a "
​ " (Space)​. And if c
​ ol > N-rowNumber​, we are printing a "
​ *"​.

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows

2
 int col = ​1​; ​// loop starts with the first column in the
//current row
​while​ (col <= N) { ​//​loop will on for N rows
​if​(col<=N-row)
System.out.print(“ ”); ​// printing “ ”
​else
System.out.print(“*”); ​// printing “*”
col = col+​1;​ ​//Increment the current column
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Pattern 2.3 - Isosceles Pattern

// N = 4
1
121
12321
1234321

Approach:
From the above pattern ​we can observe:
➔ Number of Rows:​ The pattern has 3 rows. We have to print the pattern for N
rows.
➔ Number of Columns: ​Similar to Pattern 2.2, we first have N
​ -rowNumber
columns of spaces. Following this, we have​ 2
​ ​*rowNumber​-1​ c​ olumns of
numbers.
➔ What to print: ​We can notice that if c
​ ol <= N-rowNumber​, we are printing a
" " (Space)​. Further, the pattern has two parts. First is the increasing part
and second is the decreasing part. For the increasing part, we will initialise a

3
 variable n
​ um=​1​. In each row we will keep printing ​num​ till its value becomes
equal to the r
​ owNumber​ . We will increment ​num​ by 1 after printing it; ;this will
account for the first part of the pattern. We have n
​ um = rowNumber​ at this
stage. The decreasing part starts with ​rowNumber - 1​.​ ​Hence, we will
initialise num with rowNumber - 1. Now, for the decreasing part, we will
again start printing n
​ um​ till n
​ um>=​1​. After printing n
​ um​ we will decrement it by
1.

Java Implementation:

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int N = s.nextInt(); ​// Take user input, N= Number of Rows
int row = ​1​; ​// The loop starts with the 1st row
​while​ (row <= N) { ​// Loop will on for N rows
int spaces = ​1;​ ​// Printing spaces
​while​ (spaces <= N-row) {
System.out.print(“ ”);
spaces=spaces+​1;
}
int num=​1;​ ​// Variable to print the numbers
​while​ (num <= row) { ​// Increasing Pattern
System.out.print(num);
num=num+​1​;
}

num=row​-1;​ ​// We have to start printing the decreasing part

// from one less than the rowNumber
​while​ (num >= ​1) ​{ ​// Decreasing Pattern
System.out.print(num);

4
 num=num​-1;
}
row = row+​1;​ ​// Increment the current row (Outer Loop)
System.out.println(); ​// Add a new Line after each row
}
}

Practice Problems

Here are a few similar patterns problems for your practice. ​All the patterns have been
drawn for N=4.

*
***
*****
*******

1
121
12321
1234321
12321
121
1

1​ ​1
​2​ ​2
​3​ 3 ​
​4
​3​ ​3
​2​ ​2

5
1​ ​1

*
***
*****
*******
*****
***
*

6
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Java  Foundation  with  Data  Structures  
Lecture  4    :  Loops,  Keywords,  Associativity  and  Precedence  
   

 
  
for  loop  
 
Loop   statements   allows   us   to   execute   a   block   of   statements   several   number   of  
times   depending   on   certain   condition.   for   loop   is   kind   of   loop   in   which   we   give  
initialization   statement,   test   expression   and   update   statement   can   be   written   in  
one  line.    
 
Inside  for,  three  statements  are  written  –    
a.   Initialization   –   used   to   initialize   your   loop   control   variables.   This   statement   is  
executed  first  and  only  once.  
b.   Test   condition   –   this   condition   is   checked   everytime   we   enter   the   loop.  
Statements   inside   the   loop   are   executed   till   this   condition   evaluates   to   true.   As  
soon  as  condition  evaluates  to  false,  loop  terminates  and  then  first  statement  after  
for  loop  will  be  executed  next.  
c.   Updation   –   this   statement   updates   the   loop   control   variable   after   every  
execution  of  statements  inside  loop.  After  updation,  again  test  conditon  is  checked.  
If  that  comes  true,  the  loop  executes  and  process  repeats.  And  if  condition  is  false,  
the  loop  terminates.    
 
for  (initializationStatement;  test_expression;  updateStatement)  {  
  //  Statements  to  be  executed  till  test_expression  is  true    
}  
 
Example  Code  :  
 
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                             for(int  i  =  0;  i  <  3;  i++)  {  
                                             System.out.print("Inside  for  loop  :  ");  
                                             System.out.println(i);  
                                           }  
                                           System.out.println("Done");  
                                       }  
 
Output:  
Inside  for  Loop  :  0  
Inside  for  Loop  :  1  
Inside  for  Loop  :  2  
Done  
 

 
  
In  for  loop  its  not  compulsory  to  write  all  three  statements  i.e.  
initializationStatement,  test_expression  and  updateStatement.  We  can  skip  one  
or  more  of  them  (even  all  three)  
 
Above  code  can  be  written  as:  
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           int  i  =  1;                      //initialization  is  done  outside  the  for  loop  
                                                                                     for(;  i  <  =5;  i++)  {  
                                             System.out.println(i);  
                                           }  
                                       }  
 
 
OR  
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           int  i  =  1;                      //initialization  is  done  outside  the  for  loop  
                                                                                     for(;  i  <  =5;  )  {  
                                             System.out.println(i);  
                                                                                                           i++;                //  update  Statement  written  here  
                                           }  
                                       }  
 
We  can  also  skip  the  test_expression.  See  the  example  below  :  
 
Variations  of  for  loop  
 
•   The  three  expressions  inside  for  loop  are  optional.  That  means,  they  can  be  
omitted  as  per  requirement.    
 
Example  code  1:  Initialization  part  removed  –  
                                     
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                               int  i  =  0;  
                                               for(  ;  i  <  3;  i++)  {  
                                                 System.out.println(i);  
                                               }  
                                         }  
 
 

 
  
 
Output:  
0  
1  
2  
 
Example  code  2:  Updation  part  removed  
                                         
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           for(int  i  =  0;  i  <  3;  )  {  
                                             System.out.println(i);  
                                             i++;  
                                           }  
                                       }  
   
Output:  
0  
1  
2  
 
Example  code  3:  Condition  expression  removed  ,  thus  making  our  loop  
infinite  –  
 
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           for(int  i  =  0;  ;  i++)  {  
                                                 System.out.println(i);  
                                           }  
                                       }  
 
Example  code  4:  
We  can  remove  all  the  three  expression,  thus  forming  an  infinite  loop-­‐  
 
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           for(  ;  ;  )  {  
                                             System.out.print("Inside  for  loop");  
                                           }  
                                       }  
 
 

 
  
•   Multiple  statements  inside  for  loop  
 
We  can  initialize  multiple  variables,  have  multiple  conditions  and  multiple  
update  statements  inside  a  for  loop.    We  can  separate  multiple  statements  
using  comma,  but  not  for  conditions.  They  need  to  be  combined  using  logical  
operators.  
 
Example  code:  
 
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                                       for(int  i  =  0,  j  =  4;  i  <  5  &&  j  >=  0;  i++,  j-­‐-­‐)  {  
                                                           System.out.println(i  +  "  "  +  j);  
                                                       }  
                                                   }      
 
Output:  
 
   0  4  
   1  3  
   2  2  
   3  1  
   4  0  
 

break  and  continue  

 
1.   break  statement:  The  break  statement  terminates  the  loop  (for,  while  and  
do.   while   loop)   immediately   when   it   is   encountered.   As   soon   as   break   is  
encountered   inside   a   loop,   the   loop   terminates   immediately.   Hence   the  
statement  after  loop  will  be  executed  next.    
2.   continue  statement:   The  continue  statement  skips  some  statements  inside  
the   loop.   The   continue   statement   is   used   with   decision   making   statement  
such  as  if...else.  (caution  always  update  the  counter  in  case  of  while  loop  else  
loop  will  never  end)  
while(test_expression)  {  
  //  codes  
if  (condition  for  break)  {  
  break;  
}  
//codes  
 
  
}  
 
  for  (initializationStatement;  test_expression;  updateStatement)  {  
  //  codes  
if  (condition  for  break)  {  
  break;  
}  
//codes  
  }  
v   break  
•   Example:  (using  break  inside  for  loop)  
 
                                       public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
                                           for(int  i  =  1;  i  <  10;  i++)  {  
                                             System.out.println(i);  
                                             if(i  ==  5)  {  
                                               break;  
                                             }  
                                           }  
                                       }  
 
Output:    
1  
2  
3  
4  
5  
 
•   Example:  (using  break  inside  while  loop)  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  i  =  1;  
    while  (i  <=  10)  {  
      System.out.println(i);  
if(i==5)  
{  
  break;  
}  
      i++;  

 
  
    }  
}  
 
Output:    
 
1  
2  
3  
4  
5  
 
 
•   Inner  loop  break:  
 
When  there  are  two  more  loops  inside  one  another.  Break  from  innermost  loop  
will  just  exit  that  loop.  
 
Example  Code  1:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
for  (int  i=1;  i  <=3;  i++)  {  
        System.out.println(i);  
for  (int  j=1;  j<=  5;  j++)  
{    
                     System.out.println(“in”);  
                     if(j==1)  
{  
      break;  
}  
           }  
}  
}  
Output:  
1  
in…  
2  
in…  
3  
in…  

 
  
 
Example  Code  2:  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
  int  i=1;  
while  (i  <=3)  {  
        System.out.println(i);  
        int  j=1;  
while  (j  <=  5)  
{  
System.out.println(“in”);  
    if(j==1)  
{  
      break;  
}  
j++;  
           }  
        i++;  
}  
}  
 
 
Output:  
1  
in…  
2  
in…  
3  
in…  
 
 
v  Continue  
 
The  continue  keyword  can  be  used  in  any  of  the  loop  control  structures.  It  
causes  the  loop  to  immediately  jump  to  the  next  iteration  of  the  loop.  
 
•   Example:  (using  for  loop)  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args){  

 
  
    for  (int  i=1;  i  <=  5;  i++)  {  
if(i==3)  
{  
  continue;  
}  
System.out.println(i);  
    }  
}  
 
Output:    
1  
2  
4  
5  
 
•   Example:  (using  while  loop)  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args){  
    int  i=1;  
    while  (i  <=  5)  {  
if(i==3)  
{  
  i++;                                      
       //  if  increment  isn’t  done  here  then  loop    will  run                                                                  
infinite  time  for  i=3  
  continue;                                  
}  
System.out.println(i);  
i++;  
    }  
}  
 
Output:    
1  
2  
4  
5  

 
  
Scope  of  variables  
 
Scope  of  variables  is  the  curly  brackets  {}  inside  which  they  are  defined.    Outside  
which   they   aren’t   known   to   the   compiler.   Same   is   for   all   loops   and   conditional  
statement  (if).  
 
v  Scope  of  variable  -­‐  for  loop  
 
for  (initializationStatement;  test_expression;  updateStatement)  {  
  //  Scope  of  variable  defined  in  loop  
}  
 
 Example:  
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
for  (int  i=0;  i<5;  i++)  {              
int  j=2;                  //  Scope  of  i  and  j  are  both  inside  the  loop  they  
can’t  be  used  outside                                                                                                                                                                                                    
        }  
 
 
v  Scope  of  variable  for  while  loop  
 
while(test_expression)  {  
  //  Scope  of  variable  defined  in  loop    
}  
 
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  i=0;  
    while(i<5)  
    {  
int  j=2;      //  Scope  of  i  is  main  and  scope  of  j  is  only  the  loop  
      i++;  
    }  
}  
 
v   Scope  of  variable  for  conditional  statements  
 

 
  
if(test_expression)  {  
  //  Scope  of  variable  defined  in  the  conditional  statement    
}  
 
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
    int  i=0;  
    if  (i<5)  
    {  
      int  j=5;        //  Scope  of  j  is  only  in  this  block  
    }  
    //  cout<<j;    à    This  statement  if  written  will  give  an  error  because    
scope  of  j  is  inside  if  and  is  not  accessible  outside  if.  
}    
 

Increment  Decrement  operator  

 
Explanation  
Pre-­‐increment  and  pre-­‐decrement  operators’  increments  or  decrements  the  value  
of  the  object  and  returns  a  reference  to  the  result.  
Post-­‐increment  and  post-­‐decrement  creates  a  copy  of  the  object,  increments  or  
decrements  the  value  of  the  object  and  returns  the  copy  from  before  the  
increment  or  decrement.  
 
Post-­‐increment(a++):  
This  increases  value  by  1,  but  uses  old  value  of  a  in  any  statement.  
Pre-­‐increment(++a):  
This  increases  value  by  1,  and  uses  increased  value  of  a  in  any  statement.  
 
Post-­‐decrement(a-­‐-­‐):  
This  decreases  value  by  1,  but  uses  old  value  of  a  in  any  statement.  
 
Pre-­‐decrement(++a):  
This  decreases  value  by  1,  and  uses  decreased  value  of  a  in  any  statement.  
 

public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  

 
  
  int  I=1,  J=1,  K=1,  L=1;  

  cout<<I++<<'  '<<J-­‐-­‐  <<'  '<<++K<<'  '<<  -­‐-­‐L<<endl;  

  cout<<I<<'  '<<J<<'  '<<K<<'  '<<L<<endl;  

}  
Output:  
1  1  2  0  
2  0  2  0  
 

Bitwise  Operators  
 
Bitwise  operators  are  used  to  perform  operations  at  bit  level.  Following  is  the  
summary  of  various  bitwise  operations:  
 
Operator   Name   Example   Result   Description  
a  &  b   and   4  &  6   4   1  if  both  bits  are  1.  
a  |  b   or   4  |  6   6   1  if  either  bit  is  1.  
a  ^  b   xor   4  ^  6   2   1  if  both  bits  are  different.  
~a   not   ~4   -­‐5   Inverts  the  bits.  (Unary  bitwise  compliment)  
left   Shifts  the  bits  of  n  left  p  positions.  Zero  bits  
n  <<  p   3  <<  2   12  
shift   are  shifted  into  the  low-­‐order  positions.  
Shifts  the  bits  of  n  right  p  positions.  If  n  is  a  
right  
n  >>  p   5  >>  2   1   2's  complement  signed  number,  the  sign  bit  
shift  
is  shifted  into  the  high-­‐order  positions.  
right   Shifts  the  bits  of  n  right  p  positions.  Zeros  
n  >>>  p   -­‐4  >>>  28   15  
shift   are  shifted  into  the  high-­‐order  positions.  

 
Example  Code:  
       
                   public  static  void  main(String  args[])  {  
                                                                       int  a  =  19;   //  19  =  10011    
                                                                       int  b  =  28;   //  28  =  11100    
                                                                       int  c  =  0;  

 
  
 
                                                                       c  =  a  &  b;                //  16  =  10000    
                                                                       System.out.println("a  &  b  =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                     c  =  a  |  b;                //  31  =  11111    
                                                                     System.out.println("a  |  b  =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                     c  =  a  ^  b;                //  15  =  01111    
                                                                     System.out.println("a  ^  b  =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                     c  =  ~a;                      //    -­‐20  =  01100    
                                                                     System.out.println("~a  =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                     c  =  a  <<  2;              //  76  =  1001100  
                                                                     System.out.println("a  <<  2  =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                       c  =  a  >>  2;              //  4  =  00100  
                                                                       System.out.println("a  >>  2    =  "  +  c  );  
 
                                                                         c  =  a  >>>  2;            //  4  =  00100  
                                                                         System.out.println("a  >>>  2  =  "  +  c  );  
                                                                         }  
 
Output    
a  &  b  =  16  
a  |  b  =  31  
a  ^  b  =  15  
~a  =  -­‐20  
a  <<  2  =  76  
a  >>  2  =  4  
a  >>>  2  =  4  
 
 

Precedence  and  Associativity  

 
Ø   Operator   precedence   determines   which   operator   is   performed   first   in   an  
expression  with  more  than  one  operators  with  different  precedence.    
For  example,  10  +  20  *  30  is  calculated  as  10  +  (20  *  30)  and  not  as  (10  +  20)  
*  30.  
 
  
Ø   Associativity   is   used   when   two   operators   of   same   precedence   appear   in   an  
expression.   Associativity   can   be   either   Left   to   Right   or   Right   to   Left.   For  
example,   ‘*’   and   ‘/’   have   same   precedence   and   their   associativity  
is  Left  to  Right,  so  the  expression  “100  /  10  *  10”  is  treated  as  “(100  /  10)  *  
10”.  
 
Precedence  and  Associativity  are  two  characteristics  of  operators  that  determine  
the  evaluation  order  of  subexpressions  in  absence  of  brackets.  
Note   :   We   should   generally   use   add   proper   brackets   in   expressions   to   avoid  
confusion  and  bring  clarity.  
 
1)   Associativity   is   only   used   when   there   are   two   or   more   operators   of   same  
precedence.  
The  point  to  note  is  associativity  doesn’t  define  the  order  in  which  operands  of  a  
single   operator   are   evaluated.   For   example,   consider   the   following   program,  
associativity  of  the  +  operator  is  left  to  right,  but  it  doesn’t  mean  f1()  is  always  called  
before  f2().  The  output  of  following  program  is  in-­‐fact  compiler  dependent.    
//  Associativity  is  not  used  in  the  below  program.  Output  is  compiler  dependent.  
 static  int  x  =  0;    
public  static  int  F1()  {  
   x  =  5;  
   return  x;  
}    
public  static  int  F2()  {  
   x  =  10;  
   return  x;  
}  
public  static  void  main(String[]  args)  {  
   int  p  =  F1()  +  F2();  
                         System.out.println(x);  
}  
 
2)   All   operators   with   same   precedence   have   same   associativity  
This   is   necessary,   otherwise   there   won’t   be   any   way   for   compiler   to   decide  
evaluation  order  of  expressions  which  have  two  operators  of  same  precedence  and  
different  associativity.  For  example,  +  and  –  have  same  associativity.  
 
3)  There  is  no  chaining  of  comparison  operators  in  Java  
Trying  to  execute  the  statement  a>b>c  will  give  an  error  and  the  code  will  not  compile  

 
  
 
Following  is  the  Precedence  table  along  with  associativity  for  different  operators.  
 
OPERATOR   DESCRIPTION   ASSOCIATIVITY  

(  )   Parentheses  (function  call)  (see  

[  ]   Note  1)  
.   Brackets  (array  subscript)  
++  —   Member  selection  via  object  name  
  Postfix  increment/decrement  (see  
  Note  2)   left-­‐to-­‐right  

++  —   Prefix  increment/decrement  
+  –   Unary  plus/minus  
!  ~   Logical  negation/bitwise  
(type)   complement  
  Cast  (convert  value  to  temporary  
  value  of  type)   right-­‐to-­‐left  

*    /    %   Multiplication/division/modulus   left-­‐to-­‐right  

+    –   Addition/subtraction   left-­‐to-­‐right  

<<    >>   Bitwise  shift  left,  Bitwise  shift  right   left-­‐to-­‐right  

Relational  less  than/less  than  or  

equal  to  
<    <=   Relational  greater  than/greater  
>    >=   than  or  equal  to   left-­‐to-­‐right  

==    !=   Relational  is  equal  to/is  not  equal  to   left-­‐to-­‐right  

&   Bitwise  AND   left-­‐to-­‐right  

^   Bitwise  exclusive  OR   left-­‐to-­‐right  

|   Bitwise  inclusive  OR   left-­‐to-­‐right  

&&   Logical  AND   left-­‐to-­‐right  

|  |   Logical  OR   left-­‐to-­‐right  

?  :   Ternary  conditional   right-­‐to-­‐left  

 
  

=   Assignment  
+=    -­‐=   Addition/subtraction  assignment  
*=    /=   Multiplication/division  assignment  
%=    &=   Modulus/bitwise  AND  assignment  
^=    |=   Bitwise  exclusive/inclusive  OR  
<<=    >>=   assignment  
  Bitwise  shift  left/right  assignment   right-­‐to-­‐left  
 
 

 
 Java Foundation with Data Structures
Lecture 5 : Functions, Variables and Scope
s​Functions

​A Function is a collection of statements designed to perform a specific task.

Function is like a black box that can take certain input(s) as its parameters and
can output a value which is the return value. A function is created so that one
can use it as many time as needed just by using the name of the function, you
do not need to type the statements in the function every time required.

Defining Function
return_type​ function_name​(​parameter 1, parameter 2, ………​) {
statements​;
}

● return type:​ ​A function may return a value. The ​return type​ of the
function is the data type of the value that function returns. Sometimes
function is not required to return any value and still performs the
desired task. The return type of such functions is ​void​.

Example:
Following is the example of a function that sum of two numbers. Here input to
the function are the numbers and output is their sum.
 1. public​ ​static​ ​int​ findSum​( ​int ​a​, ​int ​b​){
2. int ​sum ​= ​a ​+ ​b​;
3. return ​ ​sum​;
4. }

Function Calling
Now that we have read about how to create a function lets see how to call the
function. To call the function you need to know the name of the function and
number of parameters required and their data types and to collect the
returned value by the function you need to know the return type of the
function.
Example

1. public​ ​static​ ​int​ findSum​( ​int ​a​, ​int ​b​){

2. ​int​ sum ​= ​a ​+ ​b​;
3. ​return ​ ​sum​;
4. }
5. public​ s​ tatic​ ​void​ main​ () {
6. ​int ​a ​= 1​ 0, b ​= ​20​;
7. ​int ​c​= ​findSum​ (​a​, ​b​); // function findSum () is called using its name and
by knowing
8. System.​out​.print(​c​);​//​ the number of parameters and their data type.
9. } // ​integer c is used to collect the returned value by
the function

Output:
30

IMPORTANT POINTS:
● Number of parameter​ ​and their​ ​data type​ ​while calling must match with
function signature. Consider the above example, while calling function
findSum ()​ ​the number of parameters are two and both the parameter
are of integer type.

● It is okay not to collect the return value of function. For example, in the
above code to find the sum of two numbers it is right to print the return
value directly.
“System.​out​.print(​c​);”

● void return type functions: ​These are the functions that do not return
any value to calling function. These functions are created and used to
perform specific task just like the normal function except they do not
return a value after function executes.

Following are some more examples of functions and their use to give you a
better idea.

Function to find area of circle

1. public​ ​static​ ​double​ findArea(​double​ ​radius​){

2. double ​area​ =​ ​radius​*​radius​*3.14; ​//return type is double
3. ​return ​area​;
4. }
5.
6. public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] ​args​) {
7. double​ ​radius​ = 5.8;
8. ​double​ ​c​ = ​findArea​(​radius​);
9. System.​out​.print(​c​);
10.}
11.

Function to print average

1. public​ ​static​ ​void​ printAverage​(int a, int b ){ //​return type of the

function is void
12. ​int​ avg = (a + b) / 2;
13. System.​out​.print(​avg​);
2. } // ​This function does not return any value
3.
4. public​ ​static​ ​void​ main​ () {
5. ​int​ a = 15, b = 25;
6. printAverage​ (​a, b​);
7. }
Why do we need function?
● Reusability: ​Once a function is defined, it can be used over and over
again. You can call the function as many time as it is needed, which saves
work. Consider that you are required to find out the area of the circle,
now either you can apply the formula every time to get the area of circle
or you can make a function for finding area of the circle and invoke the
function whenever it is needed.
● Neat code: ​A code created with function is easy to read and dry run. You
don’t need to type the same statements over and over again, instead
you can invoke the function whenever needed.
● Modularisation – ​ ​Functions help in modularising code. Modularisation
means to divides the code in small modules each performing specific
task. Functions helps in doing so as they are the small fragments of the
programme designed to perform the specified task.
● Easy Debugging:​ It is easy to find and correct the error in function as
compared to raw code without function where you must correct the
error (if there is any) everywhere the specific task of the function is
performed.

How does function calling works?

Consider the following code where there is a function called findsum which
calculates and returns sum of two numbers.

//Find Sum of two integer numbers

1. public​ ​static​ ​int​ findSum​( ​int ​a​, ​int ​b​){
2. ​int​ sum ​= ​a ​+ ​b​;
3. ​return ​ ​sum​;
4. }
5. public​ ​static​ ​void​ main​ () {
6. ​int ​a ​= ​10, b ​= ​20​;
7. ​int ​c​= ​findSum​ (​a​, ​b​);
8. System.​out​.print(​c​);
9.

The function being called is called

callee(​here it is findsum function) and the
function which calls the callee is called
the​ caller ​(here main function is the caller) .
When a function is called, programme control goes to the entry point of the
function. Entry point is where the function is defined. So focus now shifts to
callee and the caller function goes in paused state .

For Example: In above code entry point of the function ​findSum ()​ ​is at line
number 3. So when at line number 9 the function call occurs the control goes
to line number 3, then after the statements in the function ​findSum ()​ are
executed the programme control comes back to line number 9.

​Role of stack in function calling (call stack)

​A call stack is a storage area

that store information about
the ​active function and
paused functions. It stores
parameters of the function,
return address of the
function and variables of the
function that are created
statically.
Once the function
statements are terminated
or the function has returned
a value, the call stack
removes all the information about that function from the stack.

Benefits of functions
● Modularisation
● Easy Debugging:​ It is easy to find and correct the error in function as
compared to raw code without function where you must correct the
error (if there is any) everywhere the specific task of the function is
performed.
● ​Neat code: ​A code created with function is easy to read and dry run.

Variables and Scopes

Local Variables
Local variable is a variable that is given a local scope. Local variable belonging
to a function or a block has its scope only within the function or block inside
which it is declared. Scope of a variable is part of a programme for which this
variable is accessible.
Example:
1. #include<iostream>
2. using namespace ​std​;
3. public​ ​static​ ​void​ ​main​(){
4. ​int ​a ​= ​10​;
5. ​System.​out​.print(​a​);
6.
7. }

Output
5
In the above code the variable ​a​ declared inside the block after if statement is
a local variable for this block.

Lifetime of a Variable
The lifetime of a variable is the time period for which the declared variable has
a valid memory. Scope and lifetime of a variable are two different concepts,
scope of a variable is part of a programme for which this variable is accessible
whereas lifetime is duration for which this variable has a valid memory.

Loop variable
Loop variable is a variable which defines the loop index for each iteration.
Example
“for ​(​int ​i​ ​= ​0; i ​< ​3; i​++) { // variable ​i ​is the loop variable
…….;
……..;
statements;
​} ​“
For this example, variable ​i ​is the loop variable.

Variables in the same scope

Scope is part of programme where the declared variable is accessible. In the
same scope, no two variables can have name. However, it is possible for two
variables to have same name if they are declared in different scope.
Example:

1. public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] ​args​) {

2. int​ ​a​ = 10;
3. double​ ​a​ = 5;​ // two variables with same name, the code will not
compile
4. System.​out​.println(​a​);
5. }
For the above code, there are two variables with same name ​a​ in the same
scope of main () function. Hence the above code will not compile.

Pass by value:

When the parameters are passed to a function by pass by value method, then
the formal parameters are allocated to a new memory. These parameters have
same value as that of actual parameters. Since the formal parameters are
allocated to new memory any changes in these parameters will not reflect to
actual parameters.

Example:
​//Function to increase the parameters value
1. public​ ​static​ ​void​ increase(​int​ ​x​, ​int​ ​y​){
2. x​++;
3. y​ = ​y​ + 2;
4. System.​out​.println(​x​ + ​":"​ + ​y​); ​/​/ x and y are formal
parameters
5. }
6. public​ ​static​ ​void​ main(String[] ​args​) {
7. int​ ​a​ = 10;
8. int​ ​b​ = 20;
9. increase​(​a​,​b​);
10. System.​out​.println(​a​ + ​":"​ + ​b​); ​ // a and b are actual
parameters
11.
12.}

Output:
11: 22
10: 20
For the above code, changes in the values of ​x ​and​ y ​are not reflected to ​a ​and
b​ because x and y are formal parameters and are local to function increment so
any changes in their values here won’t affect variables a and b inside main.
Arrays

What you will learn in this lecture?

● What are arrays

● How are they stored?
● Array Indices

Introduction

In cases where there is a need to use several variables of the same type, for storing,
example, names or marks of ‘n’ students we use a data structure called arrays.
Arrays are basically collections of fixed numbers of elements of a single type. Using
arrays saves us from the time and effort required to declare each of the elements
of the array individually.

The length of an array is established when the array is created. After creation, its
length is fixed. For example: {1,2,3,4,5} is an array of integers.

Similarly, an array can be a collection of characters, Boolean, Double as well.

Declaring Array Variables

To use an array in a program, you must declare a variable to refer to the array, and
you must specify the type (which once specified can’t be changed) of the array the
variable can reference. Here is the syntax for declaring an array variable −

Syntax

1
datatype [] arrayRefVar; // preferred way. OR

datatype arrayRefVar [];

Example:

int [] arr; OR
int arr [];

Creating Array

Declaring an array variable does not create an array (i.e. no space is reserved for
array). Here is the syntax for creating an array –

arrayRefVar = new datatype [array Size];

Example:

arr=new int [20];

The above statement does two things −

● It creates an array using the new keyword [array Size].

● It assigns the reference of the newly created array to the variable
arrayRefVar.

Combining declaration of array variable, creating array and and assigning the
reference of the array to the variable can be combined in one statement, as shown
below –

datatype [] arrayRefVar = new datatype [array Size];

2
Array Indexes

In order to access different elements in an array -­‐ all elements in the array are
indexed and indexing starts from 0. So if there are 5 elements in the array then the
first index will be 0 and last one will be 4. Similarly, if we have to store n values in an
array, then indexes will range from 0 to n - 1.

int [] arr= { 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 };

arr[0] = 1 arr[1] = 2 arr[2] = 3 arr[3] = 4 arr[4] = 5

Trying to retrieve an element from an invalid index will give an

ArrayIndexOutOfBondsException.

Initialising an Array
In Single Line
Syntax of creating and initializing an array in single line ... dataType [] arrayRefVar =
{value0, value1, ..., value};

int [] arr= {1,2,3,4,5,6,7};

Using Loop

public static void main(String[] args) {

int [] arr = new int [20];

Scanner Scan = new Scanner(System.in);

for (int i = 0 ; i < arr.length; i++){

3
 arr[i]=Scan.nextInt();

For Each Loop

This is a special type of loop to access array elements of array. But this loop can be
used only to traverse an array, nothing can be changed in the array using this loop.

public class Solutions {

public static void main (String [] args) {

int [] arr= {10,20,30,40,50};

for (int i:arr)

System.out.print(i+" ");

How are Arrays Stored?

Arrays in Java store one of two things: either primitive values (int, char,) or
references (a.k.a pointers).
When an object is created by using “new”, memory is allocated on the heap and a
reference is returned. This is also true for arrays, since arrays are objects.

4
int arr [] = new int [10]; //here arr is a reference to the array and not the name
of the array.

Reassigning references and Garbage collector

All the reference variables (not final) can be reassigned again and again but their
data type to whom they will refer is fixed at the time of their declaration.

public class Solutions {

public static void main (String [] args) {

int [] arr = new int [20]; // HERE arr is a reference

not array name…

int [] arr1 = new int [10];

arr = arr1; // We can re-­

‐assign arr to the arrays
which referred by arr1. Both arr and arr1 refer to the same arrays
now.

In Above example, we create two reference variables arr and arr1. So now there are
also 2 objects in the garbage collection heap.

If you assign arr1 reference variable to arr, then no reference will be present for the
20 integer space created earlier, so this block of memory can now be freed by
Garbage Collector.

Garbage Collector

Live objects(We can think of them as blocks of memory for now) are tracked and
everything else designated garbage. As you’ll see, this fundamental
misunderstanding can lead to many performance problems.

5
 1. When an object is no longer used, the garbage collector reclaims the
underlying memory and reuses it for future object allocation.
2. This means there is no explicit deletion and no memory is given back to the
operating system.

New objects are simply allocated at the end of the used heap

Passing Arrays to Functions?

Passing Array as function parameter

In Java programming language the parameter passing is always, ALWAYS, made by

value. Whenever we create a variable of a type, we pass a copy of its value to the
method.

Passing Reference Type // In case of array reference of array is passed

As we studied in lecture, we store references of Non-­‐Primitive data types and

access them via references, So in such cases the references of Non-­‐Primitives are
passed to function.

public class Solutions {

public static void print(int [] arr)

for (int i=0;i<5;i++)

System.out.print(arr[i]+" ");

6
 }

public static void main (String [] args) {

int [] arr= {1,2,3,4,5};

print(arr); //Reference to array is passed

Similarly, when we pass an array to the increment function shown below then the
reference(address) to the array is passed and not the array itself.

public class Solutions {

public static void increment (int [] arr)

for (int i=0;i<5;i++)

arr[i]++;

public static void main (String [] args) {

int [] arr= {1,2,3,4,5};

increment(arr);

for (int i=0;i<5;i++)

7
 System.out.print(arr[i]+" ");

Output:
23456

Here reference to the array was passed. Thus inside increment function arr refers
to the same array which was created in main. Hence the changes by increment
function are performed on the same array and they will reflect in main.

Now, lets change code for increment function a little and make arr point to another
array as shown in example given below.

public class Solutions {

public static void increment (int [] arr)

int [] arr1= {1,2,3,4,5};

arr=arr1;

for (int i=0;i<5;i++)

arr[i]++;

public static void main (String [] args) {

8
 int [] arr= {1,2,3,4,5};

increment(arr);

for (int i=0;i<5;i++)

System.out.print(arr[i]+" ");

Output:

12345

Here the changes done in main didn’t reflect. Although here as well the reference to
the array was passed, but in the first line inside the function we created another arr
of size 5 and made arr refer to that array(without affecting the array created in
main). Thus the changes this time won’t reflect.

Returning Array from a Method

Similarly, as we pass reference as a function parameter we will return reference too

in case of array.

class ArrayUse{

public static void main(String[] args){

int[] A = numbers();

9
 public static int[] numbers(){
int[] A = new int[3];
A[0] = 2;
A[1] = 3;
A[2] = 4;
return A;

10
BufferedReader Class
So far we have learnt to take input with the help of Scanner class. There is another way
to take input: using BufferedReader class. Let us dive deep into it.

BufferedReader:
It can be used to read input from a file as well as a keyboard. Since, throughout our
course, since our source of input will be keyboard only, therefore, we will limit our
discussions to taking input from keyboard.

Using this method, we read characters from the input stream. As we know, we have
three streams:
1. System.in
2. System.out
3. System.err
In this method, we will use a class called InputStreamReader, which takes input byte by
byte and decodes it into a character stream. After reading data from the source
keyboard, the decoded data (character stream) is stored in a buffer (storage meant for
temporary usage) and then the object of class BufferedReader reads from this buffer.
You will get to know about this in detail in the lecture of Object Oriented Programming
(OOP). It is explained in the OOP lecture that non-static functions or methods cannot be
accessed by class. For accessing and invoking non-static methods, we use objects of
class.

Note:-

1. Since, methods of BufferedReader class and InputStreamReader deal in input and

output operations, therefore, these methods may lead to errors in reading input or
writing output. Therefore, the function must throw IOException.
2. BufferedReader and InputStreamReader are in the “io” package. Therefore, following
statements must be included at the top of the code:
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
Or alternatively, we can include: ​import java.io.*;

Process
The complete can be divided into two steps:
1. In first step, we have to read the input or access the input using
InputStreamReader

2. Now, in the second step, we have to read data from the buffer. This can be done
using the object of the BufferedReader class. BufferedReader can read only
characters or string. It does so using the following two methods:
a. read(): reads only single character
b. readLine(): reads multiple character or a string

The following syntax is used to read character using BufferedReader class:

How to take input of integer and floating point numbers
As BufferedReader method can only be used to find reading characters or string,
therefore, for reading integers or floating-point values, we have to first read the input in
the form of characters and then typecast it into integer or floating-point values.

We will static function parseInt for type casting character into integers and similarly,
parseFloat for floating point values.

Examples:
int a = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
float b = Float.parseFloat(br.readLine());
String str = br.readLine();

Before getting our hands dirty in a more complex input format, we have to discuss split
function. This function splits the given string on a certain delimiter. For example, if the
delimiter is space, then it will divide the string into smaller substrings, which are
separated by space. It will return an array of those substrings.
Example:
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) throws NumberFormatException,

IOException {
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new
InputStreamReader(System.in));

String str = br.readLine();

String[] strNums = str.split(" ");

for (int i = 0; i < strNums.length; i++) {

System.out.print(strNums[i]+);
}

Example Input:
11 12 13 14

Example Output:
11 12 13 14
More Examples
Let us suppose that we have to read input with the following input format:
“The first line contains an Integer 't' which denotes the number of test cases or queries
to be run. Then the test cases follow.
First line of each test case or query contains an integer 'N' representing the size of the
array/list.
Second line contains 'N' single space separated integers representing the elements in
the array/list.”
One Example of this input format is:
2
5
93620
4
2312

For reading this input, following code will be used:

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

public class Main {

/*
The object of class BufferedReader is made static because it
is being used by multiple functions.
*/
static BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new
InputStreamReader(System.in));

public static int[] takeInput() throws IOException {

int size = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());
int[] input = new int[size];

if (size == 0) {
return input;
}

String[] strNums;
strNums = br.readLine().split("\\s");

for (int i = 0; i < size; ++i) {

input[i] = Integer.parseInt(strNums[i]);
}

return input;
}

public static void printArray(int[] arr) {

for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
 System.out.print(arr[i] + " ");
}

System.out.println();
}

public static void main(String[] args) throws NumberFormatException,

IOException {
int t = Integer.parseInt(br.readLine());

while (t > 0) {

int[] input = takeInput();

printArray(input);

t -= 1;
}
}

}
Searching And Sorting
Searching
Searching means to find out whether a particular element is present in a given sequence or
not. There are commonly two types of searching techniques:

● Linear search (We have studied about this in ​Arrays​)

● Binary search

In this module, we will be discussing binary search.

Binary Search
Binary Search is a searching algorithm for finding an element's position in a sorted array. In
a nutshell, this search algorithm takes advantage of a collection of elements being already
sorted by ignoring half of the elements after just one comparison.

Prerequisite:​ Binary search has one pre-requisite; unlike the linear search where elements
could be any order, the array in b
​ inary search​ must be sorted,

The algorithm works as follows:

1. Let the element we are searching for, in the given array/list is X.
2. Compare X with the middle element in the array.
3. If X matches with the middle element, we return the middle index.
4. If X is greater than the middle element, then X can only lie in the right (greater)
half subarray after the middle element, then we apply the algorithm again for
the right half.
5. If X is smaller than the middle element, then X must lie in the left (lower) half,
this is because the array is sorted. So we apply the algorithm for the left half.

1
Example Run

● Let us consider the array to be:

● Let x = 4 be the element to be searched.

● Set two pointers l
​ ow​ and ​high​ at the first and the last element respectively.
● Find the middle element ​mid​ of the array ie. a
​ rr[(low+high)/​2​] = ​6​.

● If ​x == mid​, then return m

​ id​. Else, compare the element to be searched with ​m.​
● If ​x > mid​, compare x with the middle element of the elements on the right side of
mid. This is done by setting low to l
​ ow = mid + ​1​.
● Else, compare x with the middle element of the elements on the left side of mid.
This is done by setting high to ​high = mid - ​1​.

● Repeat these steps until low meets high. We found 4:

2
Java Code
// Function to implement Binary Search Algorithm
public static int ​binarySearch(int arr[], int n, int x) {
int start = 0, end = n - 1;
​// Repeat until the pointers start and end meet each other
while​(start <= end) {
int mid = (start + end) / 2; ​// Middle Index
if​(arr[mid] == x) { ​// element found
return mid;
}
else if​(x < arr[mid]) { ​// x is on the left side
end = mid - 1;
}
else ​{ ​// x is on the right side
start = mid + 1;
}
}

return -1; ​// Element is not found

}

public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {

int[] input = {​3​, ​4​, ​5​, ​6​, ​7​, ​8​, ​9​};

int x = 4;

System.out.print(​binarySearch(input, n, x)); ​// print index

}

We will get the o

​ utput​ of the above code as:

1 ​ ​// Element found at index 1

3
Advantages of Binary search:

● This searching technique is faster and easier to implement.

● Requires no extra space.
● Reduces the time complexity of the program to a greater extent. (The term t​ ime
complexity m
​ ight be new to you, you will get to understand this when you will be
studying algorithmic analysis. For now, just consider it as the time taken by a
particular algorithm in its execution, and time complexity is determined by the
number of operations that are performed by that algorithm i.e. time complexity is
directly proportional to the number of operations in the program).

Sorting

Sorting is a
​ permutation of a list of elements such that the elements are either ​in increasing
(ascending)​ ​order or decreasing​ (​ descending)​ o
​ rder.

There are many different sorting techniques. The major difference is the amount of ​space
and t​ ime​ they consume while being performed in the program.

For now, we will be discussing the following sorting techniques:

● Selection sort
● Bubble sort
● Insertion sort

Let us now discuss these sorting techniques in detail.

Selection Sort

Selection sort is an algorithm that selects the smallest element from an unsorted list in
each iteration and places that element at the beginning of the unsorted list. The detailed
algorithm is given below.

● Consider the given unsorted array to be:

4
 ● Set the first element as m
​ inimum​.
● Compare m
​ inimum​ with the second element. If the second element is smaller than
minimum​, assign the second element as m
​ inimum​.
● Compare m
​ inimum​ with the third element. Again, if the third element is smaller, then
assign ​minimum​ to the third element otherwise do nothing. The process goes on until
the last element.

● After each iteration, m

​ inimum​ is placed in the front of the unsorted list.

● For each iteration, indexing starts from the first unsorted element. These steps are
repeated until all the elements are placed at their correct positions.

5
First Iteration

Second Iteration:

6
Third Iteration

Fourth Iteration

Java Code
public static void ​selectionSort(int input[], int n) {
for​(int i = 0; i < n-1; i++ ) {
​// Find min element in the array
int min = input[i], minIndex = i;
​for​(int j = i+1; j < n; j++) {
​// to sort in descending order, change < to > in this
​// line select the minimum element in each loop
​if​(input[j] < min) {
min = input[j];
minIndex = j;
}
}
​// Swap
int temp = input[i];
input[i] = input[minIndex];

7
 input[minIndex] = temp;
}
}

public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {

int input[] = {20, 12, 10, 15, 2};
selectionSort(input, 6);
for​(int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
System.out.print(input[i] + “ ”);

}
}

We will get the o

​ utput​ of the above code as:

2 10 12 15 20 ​ ​// sorted array

Bubble Sort

Bubble sort is an algorithm that compares the adjacent elements and swaps their positions
if they are not in the intended order. The order can be ascending or descending.

How does Bubble Sort work?

● Starting from the first index, compare the first and the second elements. If the first
element is greater than the second element, they are swapped.
● Now, compare the second and third elements. Swap them if they are not in order.
● The above process goes on until the last element.
● The same process goes on for the remaining iterations. After each iteration, the
largest element among the unsorted elements is placed at the end.
● In each iteration, the comparison takes place up to the last unsorted element.
● The array is sorted when all the unsorted elements are placed at their correct
positions.

Let the array be​ [​-2​, ​45​, ​0​, ​11​, ​-9​]​.

8
 First Iteration Second Iteration

Third Iteration Fourth Iteration

9
Java Code
public static void ​bubbleSort​(​int array[], int size​) {

​ / run loops two times: one for walking through the array
/
// and the other for comparison
​for ​(int step = 0; step < size - 1; ++step) {
​for ​(int i = 0; i < size - step - 1; ++i) {

// To sort in descending order, change > to < in this line.

​if ​(array[i] > array[i + 1]) {

// swap if greater is at the rear position

int temp = array[i];
array[i] = array[i + 1];
array[i + 1] = temp;
}
}
}
}

// driver code
public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
int input[] = {​-2​, ​45, 0​, ​11​, ​-9​};
bubbleSort(input, 6);
for​(int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
System.out.print(input[i] + “ ”);
}
}

We will get the o

​ utput​ of the above code as:

-9​ ​-2​ ​0​ ​11​ ​45 ​ ​// sorted array

10
Insertion Sort

● Insertion sort works similarly as we sort cards in our hand in a card game.
● We assume that the first card is already sorted
● Then, we select an unsorted card.
● If the unsorted card is greater than the card in hand, it is placed on the right
otherwise, to the left.
● In the same way, other unsorted cards are taken and put in the right place. A similar
approach is used by insertion sort.
● Insertion sort is a sorting algorithm that places an unsorted element at its suitable
place in each iteration

Algorithm

● Suppose we need to sort the following array.

● The first element in the array is assumed to be sorted. Take the second element and
store it separately in​ k
​ ey​.
● Compare the key with the first element. If the first element is greater than k
​ ey​, then
key​ is placed in front of the first element.
● If the first element is greater than k
​ ey​, then k
​ ey​ is placed in front of the first
element.
● Now, the first two elements are sorted.
● Take the third element and compare it with the elements on the left of it. Placed it
just behind the element smaller than it. If there is no element smaller than it, then
place it at the beginning of the array.
● Similarly, place every unsorted element at its correct position.

11
The various iterations are depicted below:

First Iteration Second Iteration

Third Iteration Fourth Iteration

12
Java Code
public static void ​insertionSort(int array[], int size)​ {
​int key, j;
​for​(int i = 1; i<size; i++) {
key = array[i]; ​//take value
j = i;
​// Compare key with each element on the left of it until an
// element smaller than it is found
​while​(j > 0 && array[j-1]>key) {
array[j] = array[j-1];
j--;
}
array[j] = key; ​//insert in right place
}
}

// driver code
public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
int input[] = {​9, 5, 1, 4, 3​};
insertionSort(input, 6);
for​(int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
System.out.print(input[i] + “ ”);
}
}

We will get the o

​ utput​ as:

1​ ​3​ ​4​ ​5​ ​9 ​// sorted array

Now, practice different questions to get more familiar with the concepts. In the advanced
course, you will study more types of sorting techniques.

Problem Statement - Merge 2 Sorted Arrays

In this problem, you are given 2 sorted arrays, you need to return a new array including all
the elements of both given arrays in a sorted manner.

13
Algorithm
1. Create an array arr3[] of size n1 + n2.
2. Simultaneously traverse arr1[] and arr2[].
● Pick a smaller of current elements in arr1[] and arr2[], copy this smaller
element to the next position in arr3[] and move ahead in arr3[] as well as in the
array whose element is picked.
● Keep reiterating the above step, till either one of arr1[] and arr2[] are
completely traversed.
3. Copy the remaining elements of the array which is left untraversed if there exists
into the arr3, as the above loop breaks if any of the pointers exceeds their
respective size.

Java Code
public static void ​mergeArrays​(int arr1[], int[] arr2)​ {
​int n1 = arr1.length;
int n2 = arr2.length;

int[] arr3 = new int[n1+n2];

​int​ ​i = 0, j = 0, k = 0;
while​ ​(i<n1 && j <n2){
if​ ​(arr1[i] < arr2[j])
arr3[k++] = arr1[i++];
else
​arr3[k++] = arr2[j++];
}

// ​Store remaining elements of first array

​while ​(i < n1)
arr3[k++] = arr1[i++];

​// ​Store remaining elements of second array

​while​ ​(j < n2)
arr3[k++] = arr2[j++];

return arr3;
}

14
15
Strings

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Strings in Java
● String Objects
● StringBuilder and StringBuffer
● Important Functions of Java

Strings in Java

Strings, which are widely used in Java programming, are a sequence of characters.
In the Java programming language, strings are objects(we study about objects in
detail in OOPS lecture). The Java platform provides the String class to create and
manipulate strings. The most direct and easiest way to create a string is to write:

String str = "Hello world";

In the above example, "Hello world!" is a string literal—a series of characters in

code that is enclosed in double quotes. Whenever it encounters a string literal in
code, the compiler creates a String object with its value—in this case, Hello world!.

Note: Strings in Java are immutable, thus we cannot modify its value. If we want to
create a mutable string we can use StringBuffer and StringBuilder classes.

A String can be constructed by either:

directly assigning a string literal to a String reference -­‐ just like a primitive, or

1
via the "new" operator and constructor, similar to any other classes(like arrays and
scanner). However, this is not commonly-­‐used and is not recommended.

For example,

String str1 = “Java is Amazing!”; // Implicit construction

via string literal

String str2 = new String(“Java is Cool!”); // Explicit

construction via new

In the first statement, str1 is declared as a String reference and initialized with a
string literal "Java is Amazing". In the second statement, str2 is declared as a
String reference and initialized via the new operator to contain "Java is Cool".

String literals are stored in a common pool called String pool. This facilitates
sharing of storage for strings with the same contents to conserve storage. String
objects allocated via new operator are stored in the heap memory(all non
primitives created via new operator are stored in heap memory), and there is no
sharing of storage for the same contents.

1. String Literal v/s String Object

As mentioned, there are two ways to construct a string: implicit construction by

assigning a string literal or explicitly creating a String object via the
new operator and constructor.

For example,

2
 String s1 = "Hello"; // String literal

String s2 = "Hello"; // String literal

String s3 = s1; // same reference

String s4 = new String("Hello"); // String object

String s5 = new String("Hello"); // String object

Java has provided a special mechanism for keeping the String literals -­‐ in a
so-­‐called string common pool. If two string literals have the same contents,
they will share the same storage inside the common pool. This approach is adopted
to conserve storage for frequently-­‐used strings. On the other hand,
String objects created via the new operator and constructor are kept in the heap
memory. Each String object in the heap has its own storage just like any other
object. There is no sharing of storage in heap even if two String objects
have the same contents.

You can use the method equals() of the String class to compare the contents of two
Strings. You can use the relational equality operator '==' to compare the references

3
(or pointers) of two objects. Study the following codes for s1 and s2 defined in code
above:

s1 == s1; // true, same pointer

s1 == s2; // true, s1 and s1 share storage in common pool

s1 == s3; // true, s3 is assigned same pointer as s1

s1.equals(s3); // true, same contents

s1 == s4; // false, different pointers

s1.equals(s4); // true, same contents

s4 == s5; // false, different pointers in heap

s4.equals(s5); // true, same contents

2. String is Immutable

Since string literals with the same contents share storage in the common pool,
Java's String is designed to be immutable. That is, once a String is constructed, its
contents cannot be modified. Otherwise, the other String references sharing the
same storage location will be affected by the change, which can be unpredictable
and therefore is undesirable. Methods such as toUpperCase() might appear to
modify the contents of a String object. In fact, a completely new String object is
created and returned to the caller. The original String object will be deallocated,
once there are no more references, and subsequently garbage-­‐collected.

Because String is immutable, it is not efficient to use String if you need to modify
your string frequently (that would create many new Strings occupying new storage
areas).

4
For example,

// inefficient code

String str = "Hello";

for (int i = 1; i < 1000; ++i)

str = str + i;

3. StringBuilder & StringBuffer

As explained earlier, Strings are immutable because String literals with the same
content share the same storage in the string common pool. Modifying the content
of one String directly may cause adverse side-­‐effects to other Strings sharing the
same storage.

JDK provides two classes to support mutable strings: StringBuffer and StringBuilder
(in core package java.lang) . A StringBuffer or StringBuilder object is just like any
ordinary object, which are stored in the heap and not shared,and therefore, can
be modified without causing adverse side-­‐effect to other objects.

The StringBuilder class was introduced in JDK 1.5. It is the same as the StringBuffer
class, except that StringBuilder is not synchronized for multi-­‐thread
operations(you can read more about multi threading). However, for a
single-‐thread program, StringBuilder, without the synchronization overhead, is
more efficient.

5
Important Java Methods

1. String "Length" Method

String class provides an inbuilt method to determine the length of the Java String.
For example:

String str1 = "test string";

//Length of a String
System.out.println("Length of String: " + str.length());

2. String "indexOf" Method

String class provides an inbuilt method to get the index of a character in Java String.

For example:

String str1 = "the string";

System.out.println("Index of character 's': " +
str_Sample.indexOf('s')); // returns 5

3. String "charAt" Method

Similar to the above question, given the index, how do I know the character at that
location? Simple one again!! Use the “charAt” method and provide the index whose
character you need to find.

6
 String str1 = "test string";
System.out.println("char at index 3 : " + str.charAt());
// output – ‘t’

4. String "CompareTo" Method

This method is used to compare two strings. Use the
method “compareTo” and specify the String that you would like to compare.

Use “compareToIgnoreCase” in case you don’t want the result to be case sensitive.
The result will have the value 0 if the argument string is equal to this string; a value
less than 0 if this string is lexicographically less than the string argument; and a
value greater than 0 if this string is lexicographically greater than the string
argument.

String str = "test";

System.out.println("Compare To “test”: " + str.compareTo("test"));
//Compare to -­
‐ Ignore case
System.out.println("Compare To “test”: -­
‐ Case Ignored: "
+ str.compareToIgnoreCase("Test"));

5. String "Contain" Method

Use the method “contains” to check if a string contains another string and specify the
characters you need to check.

Returns true if and only if this string contains the specified sequence of char values.

String str = "test string";

System.out.println("Contains sequence ing: " + str.contains("ing"));

7
6. String "endsWith" Method

This method is used to find whether a string ends with a particular prefix or not.

Returns true if the character sequence represented by the argument is a suffix of the
character sequence represented by this object.

String str = "star";

System.out.println("EndsWith character 'r': " + str.endsWith("r"));

7. String "replaceAll" & "replaceFirst" Method

Java String Replace, replaceAll and replaceFirst methods. You can specify the part of the
String you want to replace and the replacement String in the arguments.

String str = "sample string";

System.out.println("Replace sample with test: " +
str.replace("sample", "test"));

8. String Java "tolowercase" & Java "touppercase"

Use the “toLowercase()” or “ToUpperCase()” methods against the Strings that need to be
converted.

String str = "TEST string";

System.out.println("Convert to LowerCase: " + str.toLowerCase());

8
System.out.println("Convert to UpperCase: " + str.toUpperCase());

Other Important Java Strings Methods:

No. Method Description

1 String substring(int beginIndex) returns substring for given begin index

2 String substring(int beginIndex, int returns substring for given begin index
endIndex) and end index

3 boolean isEmpty() checks if string is empty

4 String concat(String str) concatenates specified string

5 String replace(char old, char new) replaces all occurrences of specified

char value

6 String replace(CharSequence old, replaces all occurrences of specified

CharSequence new) CharSequence

7 String[] split(String regex) returns splitted string matching regex

8 String[] split(String regex, int limit) returns splitted string matching regex
and limit

9 int indexOf(int ch) returns specified char value index

10 int indexOf(int ch, int fromIndex) returns specified char value index
starting with given index

9
11 int indexOf(String substring) Returns specified substring index

12 int indexOf(String substring, int Returns specified substring index

fromIndex) starting with given index

13 String trim() removes beginning and ending spaces

of this string.

14 static String valueOf(int value) converts given type into string. It is

overloaded.

Some Important Key Points about Java Strings

1. Strings are not NULL terminated in Java: Unlike C and C++, String in Java
doesn't terminate with null character. Instead String is an Object in Java and
backed by a character array. You can get the character array used to
represent String in Java by calling toCharArray() method of java.lang.String
class of JDK.
2. Internally, String is stored as a character array only.
3. String is a Immutable and Final class, that is, once created the value cannot
be altered. Thus String objects are called immutable.
4. The Java Virtual Machine(JVM) creates a memory location especially for
Strings called String Constant Pool. That’s why String can be initialized
without the ‘new’ keyword.

10
Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS-1)
Introduction to OOPS
Object-oriented programming System(OOPs)​ is a programming paradigm based
on the concept of “​ objects”​ and ​“classes”​ that contain data and methods. The
primary purpose of OOP is to increase the flexibility and maintainability of
programs. It is used to structure a software program into simple, reusable pieces of
code ​blueprints​ (called c​ lasses​) which are used to create individual instances of
objects​.

What is an Object?
The object is an entity that has a state and a behavior associated with it. It may be
any real-world object like the mouse, keyboard, chair, table, pen, etc.
Objects have states and behaviors. Arrays are objects.​ You've been using objects all
along and may not even realize it. Apart from primitive data types, objects are all
around in java.

What is a Class?
A class is a b
​ lueprint​ that defines the variables and the methods (Characteristics)
common to all objects of a certain kind.

Example:​ If ​Car​ is a class, then ​Maruti 800​ is an object of the ​Car​ class. All cars share
similar features like 4 wheels, 1 steering wheel, windows, breaks etc. Maruti 800 (The ​Car
object) has all these features.

1
Classes vs Objects (Or Instances)
Classes are used to create user-defined data structures. Classes define functions
called ​methods​, which identify the behaviors and actions that an object created
from the class can perform with its data.

In this module, you’ll create a ​Car​ class that stores some information about the
characteristics and behaviors that an individual ​Car c​ an have.

A class is a blueprint for how something should be defined. It doesn’t contain any
data. The ​Car​ class specifies that a name and a top-speed are necessary for
defining a C
​ ar​, but it doesn’t contain the name or top-speed of any specific ​Car​.

While the class is the blueprint, an instance is an object that is built from a class and
contains real data. An instance of the ​Car​ class is not a blueprint anymore. It’s an
actual car with a ​name​, like Creta, and with a t​ op speed​ of 200 Km/Hr.

Put another way, a class is like a form or questionnaire. An i​ nstance​ is like a form
that has been filled out with information. Just like many people can fill out the same
form with their unique information, many instances can be created from a single
class.

Defining a Class in Java

All class definitions start with the ​class​ keyword, which is followed by the name of
the class.
Here is an example of a C
​ ar​ class:

class​ ​Car{

2
Note: J​ ava class names are written in C
​ apitalizedWords​ notation by convention. ​For
example​, a class for a specific model of Car like the Bugatti Veyron would be
written as ​BugattiVeyron​. The first letter is capitalized. This is just a good
programming practice.

The ​Car c​ lass isn’t very interesting right now, so let’s spruce it up a bit by defining
some properties that all Car objects should have. There are several properties that
we can choose from, including c
​ olor​, ​brand​, and ​top-speed​. To keep things simple,
we’ll just use c
​ olor​ and ​top-speed​.

Constructor
● Constructors are generally used for instantiating an object.
● The task of a constructor is to initialize(assign values) to the data members of
the class when an object of the class is created.
● In Java, constructor for a class must be of the same name as of class.
● In Java, constructors don't have a return type.

Syntax of Constructor Declaration

public ​Car​(){
​// body of the constructor
}

Types of constructors
● Default Constructor: ​The default constructor is a simple constructor that
doesn’t accept any arguments.
● Parameterized Constructor: A
​ constructor with parameters is known as a
parameterized constructor. The parameterized constructor takes its
arguments provided by the programmer.

3
Class Attributes or Data Members
Class attributes are attributes that may or may not have the same value for all class
instances. You can define a class attribute by assigning a value to a variable name
outside of c
​ onstructor.
For example, t​ he following ​Car​ class has a class attribute called n
​ ame ​and
topSpeed ​with the value ​"Black"​:

class​ ​Car​{
String name;
int topSpeed;

​public​ ​Car​(String carName, int speed){

name = carName;
topSpeed = speed;
}
}

● Class attributes are defined directly beneath the first line of the class name.
● When an instance of the class is created, the class attributes are
automatically created.

The t
​ his ​Parameter
● The ​this​ parameter is a reference to the current instance of the class and is
used to access variables that belong to the class.
● We can use t
​ his​ every time but the main use of t
​ his​ comes in picture when
the attributes and data members share the same name.

Let’s update the Car class with the C

​ ar ​method that creates n
​ ame​ and ​topSpeed
attributes:

class​ ​Car​{

4
 String name;
int topSpeed;

​public​ ​Car​(String name, int topSpeed){

this.name = name;
this.topSpeed = topSpeed;
}
}

In the body of c
​ onstructor​, two statements are using the self variable:
1. this.name = name​ assigns the value of the ​name​ parameter to ​name​ attribute.
2. this.topSpeed= topSpeed ​assigns the value of the t
​ opSpeed ​parameter to
topSpeed ​attribute.

All C
​ ar​ objects have a n
​ ame​ and a ​topSpeed​, but the values for the n
​ ame​ and
topSpeed​ attributes will vary depending on the ​Car​ instance. Different objects of
the ​Car​ class will have different names and top speeds.

Now that we have a C

​ ar​ class, let’s create some cars!

Instantiating an Object in Java

Creating a new object from a class is called instantiating an object. Consider the
previous simpler version of our C
​ ar​ class:

Car c1 = new Car(​"Creta"​, ​200​);

You can instantiate a new C

​ ar​ object by typing the name of the class, followed by
opening and closing parentheses:

Now, instantiate a second ​Car​ object:

Car c2 = new Car(​"i 10"​, ​190​);

5
The new C
​ ar​ instance is located at a different memory address. That’s because it’s
an entirely new instance and is completely different from the first ​Car​ object that
you instantiated.

Even though c
​ 1​ and ​c2​ are both instances of the C
​ ar​ class, they represent two
distinct objects in memory. So they are not equal.

After you create the ​Car​ instances, you can access their instance attributes using
dot notation:

System.out.println(​c1.name​);
System.out.println(​c2.topSpeed​);

Output will be:

Creta
190

One of the biggest advantages of using classes to organize data is that instances
are guaranteed to have the attributes you expect. The values of these attributes
can​ ​be changed dynamically:

c1.topSpeed= ​250
c2.name = ​"Jeep"

In this example, you change the t

​ opSpeed​ attribute of the ​c1​ object to 2
​ 50​. Then
you change the n
​ ame ​attribute of the c
​ 2​ object to "
​ Jeep"​.

Note:
● The key takeaway here is such custom objects are m
​ utable​ by default i.e.
their states can be modified.

6
Access Modifiers

1. Private​: The access level of a private modifier is only within the class. It
cannot be accessed from outside the class.
2. Default​: The access level of a default modifier is only within the package. It
cannot be accessed from outside the package. If you do not specify any
access level, it will be the default.
3. Protected​: The access level of a protected modifier is within the package and
outside the package through child class. If you do not make the child class, it
cannot be accessed from outside the package.
4. Public​: The access level of a public modifier is everywhere. It can be accessed
from within the class, outside the class, within the package and outside the
package

We write the type of modifier before every method or data member.

Final Keyword
If you make any variable final, you cannot change the value of the final variable (It
will be constant).

class ​Pen{
final int price = 15;
}

public class ​MCQs {

public static void main(String[] args) {
Pen p = new Pen();
p.price = 20;
System.out.println(p.price);
}

7
There is a final variable price, we are going to change the value of this variable, but
it can't be changed because the final variable once assigned a value can never be
changed. Therefore this will give a c
​ ompile time error​.

Static Keyword

The static variable gets memory only once in the class area at the time of class
loading.

The ​static keyword​ in ​Java​ is used for memory management mainly. We can apply
static keyword with ​variables​, methods, blocks and ​nested classes​. The static
keyword belongs to the class rather than an instance of the class.

class ​Car{
static int year;
String company_name;

class ​NewCar{
​public static void​ main (String[] args) {
Car c=new Car();
Car.year=2018;
c.company_name="KIA";
Car d=new Car();
System.out.print(d.year);

Now in this code, when we look carefully, even when the new instance of Car is
created, the year is defined by the first instance of the Car and it tends to remain

8
the same for all instances of the object. But here’s the catch, we can change the
value of this static variable from any instance. Here the output will be 2018 for
every instance as long as it is not changed.

Static Functions
If you apply a static keyword with any method, it is known as static method.

● A static method belongs to the class rather than the object of a class.

● A static method can be invoked without the need for creating an instance of
a class.

● A static method can access static data members and can change the value of
it.

class ​Test{
static int a = 10;
static int b;
static void fun(){
b = a * 4;
}
}

class ​NewCar{
​public static void​ main(String[] args) {
Test t=new Test();
t.fun();
System.out.print(t.a + t.b);
}

When t.fun() is called, it will simply change the value of b to 40.

Therefore the output of this code will be 50.

9
Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS-2)

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Components of OOPs.
● Access modifiers with inheritance and protected modifiers.
● All about exception handling.

Encapsulation
Encapsulation is defined as the wrapping up of data under a single unit. It is the
mechanism that binds together code and the data it manipulates. Another way to
think about encapsulation is, it is a protective shield that prevents the data from
being accessed by the code outside this shield.

● Technically in encapsulation, the variables or data of a class is hidden

from any other class and can be accessed only through any member
function of its own class in which they are declared.
● As in encapsulation, the data in a class is hidden from other classes using
the data hiding concept which is achieved by making the members or
methods of class as private and the class is exposed to the end user or
the world without providing any details behind implementation using the
abstraction concept, so it is also known as combination of data-hiding and
abstraction..

1
 ● Encapsulation can be achieved by: Declaring all the variables in the class
as private and writing public methods in the class to set and get the
values of variables.

Inheritance
● Inheritance is a powerful feature in Object-Oriented Programming.
● Inheritance can be defined as the process where one class acquires the
properties (methods and fields) of another. With the use of inheritance, the
information is made manageable in a hierarchical order.
● The class which inherits the properties of the other is known as subclass
(derived class or child class) and the class whose properties are inherited is
known as superclass (base class, parent class).

Super Keyword:

The super keyword in Java is a reference variable which is used to refer to an

immediate parent class object.

Whenever you create an instance of a subclass, an instance of the parent class is

created implicitly which is referred to by a super reference variable.

Let us take a real-life example to understand inheritance. Let’s assume that Human
is a class that has properties such as height, weight, age, etc and functionalities (or
methods) such as eating(), sleeping(), dreaming(), working(), etc.

2
Now we want to create Male and Female classes. Both males and females are
humans and they share some common properties (like height, weight, age, etc)
and behaviors (or functionalities like eating(), sleeping(), etc), so they can inherit
these properties and functionalities from the Human class. Both males and
females also have some characteristics specific to them (like men have short hair
and females have long hair). Such properties can be added to the Male and Female
classes separately.

This approach makes us write less code as both the classes inherited several
properties and functions from the superclass, thus we didn’t have to re-write them.
Also, this makes it easier to read the code.

Java Inheritance Syntax

class SuperClass{
// Body of parent class
}

class SubClass extends SuperClass{

// Body of derived class
}

To inherit properties of the parent class, extends keyword is used followed by the
name of the parent class.

Example of Inheritance in Java

To demonstrate the use of inheritance, let us take an example.

A polygon is a closed figure with 3 or more sides. Say, we have a class called
Polygon defined as follows.

class Polygon{
int n;
int[] sides;

3
 public Polygon(int no_of_sides){ //Constructor
this.n = no_of_sides;
this.sides = new int[no_of_sides];
}

void inputSides(){ //Take user input for side lengths

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
for (int i=0; i<this.n; i++){
System.out.println(“Enter side: ”);
this.sides[i] = s.nextInt();
}
}

void displaySides(): //Print the sides of the polygon

for (int i=0; i<this.n; i++){
System.out.println("Side " + i+1 +" is" + this.sides[i]);
}
}

This class has data attributes to store the number of sides n and magnitude of
each side as a list called sides.

The inputSides() method takes in the magnitude of each side and dispSides()
displays these side lengths.

Now, a triangle is a polygon with 3 sides. So, we can create a class called Triangle
which inherits from Polygon. In other words, we can say that every triangle is a
polygon. This makes all the attributes of the Polygon class available to the Triangle
class.

Constructor in Subclass
The constructor of the subclass must call the constructor of the superclass using
super keyword:

4
super.Polygon(<Parameter1>,<Parameter2>,...)

Note: The parameters being passed in this call must be the same as the
parameters being passed in the superclass’ constructor/ function, otherwise it will
throw an error.

The Triangle class can be defined as follows.

class Triangle extends Polygon{

public Triangle(){
super.Polygon(3); //Calling constructor of superclass
}

void findArea(){
int a = super.sides[0];
int b = super.sides[1];
int c = super.sides[2];
// calculate the semi-perimeter
int s = (a + b + c) / 2;
int area = Math.sqrt(s*(s-a)*(s-b)*(s-c));
print('The area of the triangle is ' + area);
}
}

However, the class Triangle has a new method findArea() to find and print the
area of the triangle. This method is only specific to the Triangle class and not
Polygon class.

Here, even though we did not define methods like inputSides() or

displaySides() for class Triangle separately, we will be able to use them. If an
attribute is not found in the subclass itself, the search continues to the superclass.

5
Access Modifiers
Various object-oriented languages like C++, Java, Python control access
modifications which are used to restrict access to the variables and methods of the
class. There are four types of access modifiers available in java, which are Public,
Private, and Protected in a class, then there is a default case (we don't write any
keyword in this case), which lies somewhere in between public and private.

Public Modifier

The public access modifier is specified using the keyword public.

● The public access modifier has the widest scope among all other access
modifiers.
● Classes, methods, or data members that are declared as public are
accessible from everywhere in the program. There is no restriction on the
scope of public data members.

Consider the given example:

// Package 1
public class Student{
public String name; // public member
public int age; // public member

// constructor
public void Student(String name, int age){
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
}

---------------------------------------------------------------------

// Package 2

6
class Test{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Student obj = Student("Boy", 15)
System.out.println(obj.age); //calling public member of class
System.out.println(obj.name); //calling public member
}
}

We will get the output as:

10
Boy

We will be able to access both name and age of the object from outside the class
and package as they are public. However, this is not a good practice due to security
concerns.

Private Modifier
The members of a class that are declared private are accessible within the class
only. A private access modifier is the most secure access modifier. Data members
of a class are declared private by adding a private keyword before the data member
of that class. Consider the given example:

// Package 1
public class Student{
private String name; // private member
public int age; // public member

// constructor
public void Student(String name, int age){
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------

7
 // Package 2
class Test{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Student obj = Student("Boy", 15)
System.out.println(obj.age); //calling public member of class
System.out.println(obj.name); //calling private member
}
}

We will get the output as:

10
AttributeError: 'Student' object has no attribute 'name'

We will get an AttributeError when we try to access the name attribute. This is
because name is a private attribute and hence it cannot be accessed from outside
the class.
Note: We can even have public and private methods.

Private and Public modifiers with Inheritance

● The subclass will be able to access any public method or instance attribute
of the superclass.
● The subclass will not be able to access any private method or instance
attribute of the superclass.

Protected Modifier
The members of a class that are declared protected are only accessible to a class
derived from it. Data members of a class are declared protected by adding a
protected keyword before the data member of that class.
The given example will help you get a better understanding:

8
// superclass
public class Student{
protected String name; // private member

// constructor
public void Student(String name){
this.name = name;
}
}

This is the parent class Student with a protected instance attribute name. Now
consider a subclass of this class:

class Display extends Student{

// constructor
public Display(String name){
super.Student(name);
}
public void displayDetails(){
// accessing protected data members of the superclass
System.out.println("Name: ", super.name);
}
}

class Test{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Display obj = Student("Boy"); // creating objects of the
// derived class
obj.displayDetails(); // calling public member functions
// of the class
System.out.println(obj.name); // trying to access
// protected attribute
}
}

9
This class Display inherits the Student class. The method displayDetails()
accesses the protected attribute _name. Further, we try to access it again outside
this class.

Output:

Name: Boy
AttributeError: 'Display' object has no attribute 'name'

You can observe that we were able to access the protected attribute _name from
inside the displayDetails() method in the subclass. However, we were not able
to access it outside the subclass and we got an AttributeError. This justifies the
definition of the protected modifier.

Polymorphism
Polymorphism is considered one of the important features of Object-Oriented
Programming. Polymorphism allows us to perform a single action in different ways.
In other words, polymorphism allows you to define one interface and have multiple
implementations. The word “poly” means many and “morphs” means forms, So it
means many forms.

In Java polymorphism is mainly divided into two types:

● Compile time Polymorphism

● Runtime Polymorphism
1. Compile-time polymorphism: It is also known as static polymorphism. This
type of polymorphism is achieved by function overloading or operator
overloading. But Java supports the Operator Overloading with only the ‘+’
symbol. ‘+’ symbol in java works for adding two integer numbers and it can
also be used for string concatenation.

10
 Function/ Method Overloading: When there are multiple functions with the
same name but different parameters then these functions are said to be
overloaded. Functions can be overloaded by change in number of arguments
or/and change in type of arguments.

Example 1: Polymorphism in addition(+) operator

We know that the + operator is used extensively in Java programs. But, it does not
have a single usage. For integer data types, the + operator is used to perform
arithmetic addition operation.

int num1 = 1;
int num2 = 2;
System.out.println(num1+num2);

Hence, the above program outputs 3.

Similarly, for string data types, the + operator is used to perform concatenation.

String str1 = "Java"

String str2 = "Programming"
print(str1+" "+str2)

As a result, the above program outputs "Java Programming".

Here, we can see that a single operator + has been used to carry out different
operations for distinct data types. This is one of the most simple occurrences of
polymorphism in Python.

Example 2: Polymorphism with methods/ functions in Java

Let's look at an example.

// Java program for Method overloading

11
class MultiplyFun {
// Method with 2 parameter
static int Multiply(int a, int b){
return a * b;
}
// Method with the same name but 3 parameter
static int Multiply(int a, int b, int c){
return a * b * c;
}
}

class Test{
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(MultiplyFun.Multiply(2, 4));
System.out.println(MultiplyFun.Multiply(2, 7, 3));
}
}

Output

8
42

2. Runtime Polymorphism: It is also known as Dynamic Method Dispatch. It is

a process in which a function call to the overridden method is resolved at
Runtime. This type of polymorphism is achieved by Method Overriding.

It occurs when a derived class has a definition for one of the member
functions of the base class. That base function is said to be overridden.

Let us see see this in code:

// Java program for Method overriding

class Parent {
void Print() {
System.out.println("parent class");
}

12
}

class subclass1 extends Parent {

void Print() {
System.out.println("subclass1");
}
}

class subclass2 extends Parent {

void Print() {
System.out.println("subclass2");
}
}

class TestPolymorphism3 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Parent a;

a = new subclass1();
a.Print();

a = new subclass2();
a.Print();
}
}

Output

subclass1
subclass2

13
Exception Handling
Error in Java can be of two types i.e. normal unavoidable errors and Exceptions.

● Errors are the problems in a program due to which the program will stop the
execution.
● On the other hand, exceptions are raised when some internal events occur
which changes the normal flow of the program.

Difference between Syntax Errors and Exceptions

Error: An Error “indicates serious problems that a reasonable application should
not try to catch.”
Both Errors and Exceptions are the subclasses of java.lang.Throwable class. Errors
are the conditions which cannot get recovered by any handling techniques. It surely
causes termination of the program abnormally. Errors belong to unchecked type
and mostly occur at runtime. Some of the examples of errors are Out of memory
error or a System crash error. Also, there are syntax errors that are caused by the
wrong syntax in the code. It leads to the termination of the program in compile
time itself.
Example:
When you are using recursion to solve any problem, you must have seen errors
which say “Stack overflow”. In your case, this might have arised due to the incorrect
or absence of base case. But this has a deeper explanation. This stack overflow
error may also arise when the input is huge and to solve the problem you need too
many recursive calls one above the other, this will lead to overflow of the main
stack space provided. So there comes the need to solve this problem iteratively.
You will practically experience these errors in Dynamic Programming lecture.
For a 64 bits Java 8 program with minimal stack usage, the maximum number of
nested method calls is about 7 000. Generally, we don't need more, except in very
specific cases. You can

14
Exceptions: Exceptions are raised when the program is syntactically correct but the
code resulted in an error. This error does not stop the execution of the program,
however, it changes the normal flow of the program.
Example:

int marks = 10000;

int a = marks / 0;
System.out.println(a);

Output:

ZeroDivisionError: division by zero

The above example raised the ZeroDivisionError exception, as we are trying to

divide a number by 0 which is not defined.

Exceptions in Java
● Java has many built-in exceptions that are raised when your program
encounters an error (something in the program goes wrong).
● When these exceptions occur, the Java interpreter stops the current process
and passes it to the calling process until it is handled.
● If not handled, the program will crash.
● For example, let us consider a program where we have a function A that calls
function B, which in turn calls function C. If an exception occurs in function C
but is not handled in C, the exception passes to B and then to A.
● If never handled, an error message is displayed and the program comes to a
sudden unexpected halt.

15
Some Common Exceptions
A list of common exceptions that can be thrown from a standard Java program is
given below.

● ArithmeticException
It is thrown when an exceptional condition has occurred in an arithmetic
operation.

● ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
It is thrown to indicate that an array has been accessed with an illegal index.
The index is either negative or greater than or equal to the size of the array.
● ClassNotFoundException
This Exception is raised when we try to access a class whose definition is not
found
● FileNotFoundException
This Exception is raised when a file is not accessible or does not open.
● IOException
It is thrown when an input-output operation failed or interrupted
● InterruptedException
It is thrown when a thread is waiting , sleeping , or doing some processing,
and it is interrupted.
● NoSuchFieldException
It is thrown when a class does not contain the field (or variable) specified
● NoSuchMethodException
It is thrown when accessing a method which is not found.
● NullPointerException
This exception is raised when referring to the members of a null object. Null
represents nothing

16
 ● NumberFormatException
This exception is raised when a method could not convert a string into a
numeric format.
● RuntimeException
This represents any exception which occurs during runtime.
● StringIndexOutOfBoundsException
It is thrown by String class methods to indicate that an index is either negative
than the size of the string

Catching Exceptions
In Java, exceptions can be handled using try-catch blocks.

● If the Java program contains suspicious code that may throw the exception,
we must place that code in the try block.
● The try block must be followed by the catch statement, which contains a
block of code that will be executed in case there is some exception in the try
block.
● We can thus choose what operations to perform once we have caught the
exception.

17
 ● Here is a simple example:

int[] arr = {1, 0, 2};

for (int ele : arr){
try{ //This block might raise an exception while executing
System.out.println("The entry is" + ele);
int r = 1/int(ele);
}
catch(Exception e) { //This block executes in case of an
// exception in "try"
System.out.println("Oops! An error occurred: "+e.toString());
}
System.out.println();
}

We get the output to this code as:

The entry is 1

The entry is 0
Oops! An error occurred: java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero

The entry is 2

● In this program, we loop through the values of an array arr.

● As previously mentioned, the portion that can cause an exception is placed
inside the try block.
● If no exception occurs, the catch block is skipped and normal flow continues.
● But if any exception occurs, it is caught by the catch block (second value of
the array).
● Here, we print the name of the exception using the e.toString() function.
● We can see that element 0 causes ZeroDivisionError.

Every exception in Java inherits from the base Exception class.

18
Catching Specific Exceptions in Java

● In the above example, we did not mention any specific exception in the
catch clause.
● This is not a good programming practice as it will catch all exceptions and
handle every case in the same way.
● We can specify which exceptions a catch clause should catch.
● A try clause can have any number of catch clauses to handle different
exceptions, however, only one will be executed in case an exception occurs.
● You can use multiple catch blocks for different types of exceptions.

Here is an example to understand this better:

try{
a=10/0;
}
catch(ArithmeticError e){
System.out.println("Arithmetic Exception");
}
catch(IOException e){
System.out.println("input output Exception");
}

Output:

Arithmetic Exception

19
finally Statement

The try statement in Java can have an optional finally clause. This clause is
executed no matter what and is generally used to release external resources.
Here is an example of file read and close to illustrate this:

FileReader f = null;
try{
f = new FileReader(file);
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(f);
String line = null;
}
catch (FileNotFoundException fnf) {
fnf.printStackTrace();
}
finally {
if( f != null)
f.close();
}

This type of construct makes sure that the file is closed even if an exception occurs
during the program execution.

20
Recursion-1
Introduction

The process in which a function calls itself is called r​ ecursion​ and the
corresponding function is called a r​ ecursive function​.

Since computer programming is a fundamental application of mathematics, so let

us first try to understand the mathematical reasoning behind recursion.

In general, we all are aware of the concept of functions. In a nutshell, functions are
mathematical equations that produce an output on providing input. ​For example:
Suppose the function ​F(x)​ is a function defined by:

F(x) = x​2​ + ​4

We can write the ​Java Code​ for this function as:

public static int ​F​(int x){

​return​ (x * x + ​4​);
}

Now, we can pass different values of x to this function and receive our output
accordingly.

Before moving onto the recursion, let's try to understand another mathematical
concept known as the P
​ rinciple of Mathematical Induction (PMI)​.

Principle of Mathematical Induction (PMI) is a technique for proving a statement, a

formula, or a theorem that is asserted about a set of natural numbers. It has the
following three steps:

1
 1. Step of the trivial case: I​ n this step, we will prove the desired statement for
a base case like ​n = 0​ or ​n = 1​.
2. Step of assumption:​ In this step, we will assume that the desired statement
is valid for n
​ = k​.
3. To prove step:​ From the results of the assumption step, we will prove that,
n = k + 1​ is also true for the desired equation whenever ​n = k​ is true.

For Example:​ L
​ et’s prove using the ​Principle of Mathematical Induction​ that:

S(N): ​1​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + ... + N = (N * (N + ​1​))/​2

(The sum of first N natural numbers)

Proof:

Step 1: ​For N = 1, S(1) = 1 is true.

Step 2: ​Assume, the given statement is true for N = k, i.e.,

1​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + .... + k = (k * (k + ​1​))/​2

Step 3: ​Let’s prove the statement for N = k + 1 using step 2.

To Prove:​ 1
​ ​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + ... + (k+​1​) = ((k+​1​)*(k+​2​))/​2

Proof:
Adding (k+1) to both LHS and RHS in the result obtained on step 2:
1​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + ... + (k+​1​) = (k*(k+​1​))/​2​ + (k+​1​)

Now, taking (k+1) common from RHS side:

1​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + ... + (k+​1​) = (k+​1​)*((k + ​2​)/​2​)

According the statement that we are trying to prove:

1​ + ​2​ + ​3​ + ... + (k+​1​) = ((k+​1​)*(k+​2​))/​2

Hence proved.

2
One can think, why are we discussing these over here. To answer this question, we
need to know that these three steps of PMI are related to the three steps of
recursion, which are as follows:
1. Induction Step and Induction Hypothesis: ​Here, the Induction Step is the
main problem which we are trying to solve using recursion, whereas the
Induction Hypothesis is the sub-problem, using which we’ll solve the
induction step. Let’s define the Induction Step and Induction Hypothesis for
our running example:
Induction Step: ​Sum of first n natural numbers - F(n)
Induction Hypothesis: ​This gives us the sum of the first n-1 natural
numbers - F(n-1)
2. Express F(n) in terms of F(n-1) and write code:

F(N)​ = ​F(N​-1​)​+​ N

Thus, we can write the Java code as:

public static int ​f​(int N){
int ans = f(N​-1​); ​//Induction Hypothesis step
​return​ ans + N; ​//Solving problem from result in previous step
}

3. The code is still not complete. The missing part is the base case. Now we will
dry run to find the case where the recursion needs to stop.

3
 4. After the dry run, we can conclude that for N equals 1, the answer is 1, which
we already know. So we'll use this as our base case. Hence the final code
becomes:

public static int ​f​(int N){

​if​(N == ​1​) ​// Base Case
​return​ ​1;
int ans = f(N​-1​);
​return​ ans + N;
}

This is the main idea to solve recursive problems. To summarize, we will always
focus on finding the solution to our starting problem and tell the function to
compute the rest for us using the particular hypothesis. This idea will be studied in
detail in further sections with more examples.

Now, we’ll learn more about recursion by solving problems which contain smaller
subproblems of the same kind. Recursion in computer science is a method where
the solution to the question depends on solutions to smaller instances of the same
problem. By the exact nature, it means that the approach that we use to solve the
original problem can be used to solve smaller problems as well. So, in other words,
in recursion, a function calls itself to solve smaller problems. R
​ ecursion​ is a popular
approach for solving problems because recursive solutions are generally easier to
think than their iterative counterparts, and the code is also shorter and easier to
understand.

4
Working of recursion

We can define the steps of the recursive approach by summarizing the above three
steps:
● Base case: A
​ recursive function must have a terminating condition at which
the process will stop calling itself. Such a case is known as the base case. In
the absence of a base case, it will keep calling itself and get stuck in an
infinite loop. Soon, the​ recursion depth*​ will be exceeded and it will throw
an error.
● Recursive call: T
​ he recursive function will invoke itself on a smaller version
of the main problem. We need to be careful while writing this step as it is
crucial to correctly figure out what your smaller problem is.
● Small calculation: ​Generally, we perform a calculation step in each recursive
call. We can achieve this calculation step before or after the recursive call
depending upon the nature of the problem.

Note*: ​Recursion uses an in-built stack which stores recursive calls. Hence, the
number of recursive calls must be as small as possible to avoid memory-overflow. If
the number of recursion calls exceeded the maximum permissible amount, the
recursion depth*​ will be exceeded.
Now, let us see how to solve a few common problems using Recursion.

Problem Statement - Find Factorial of a Number

We want to find out the factorial of a natural number.

Approach: ​Figuring out the three steps of PMI and then relating the same using
recursion.

1. Induction Step: ​Calculating the factorial of a number n - ​F(n)

5
 Induction Hypothesis: ​We have already obtained the factorial of n-1 - F
​ (n-1)

2. Expressing F(n) in terms of F(n-1): F

​ (n)=n*F(n​-1​)​. Thus we get:

public static int ​fact​(int n){

int ans = fact(n​-1​); ​#Assumption step
​return​ ans * n; ​#Solving problem from assumption step
}

3. The code is still not complete. The missing part is the base case. Now we will
dry run to find the case where the recursion needs to stop. Consider ​n = 5​:

As we can see above, we already know the answer of n = 0, which is 1. So we will

keep this as our base case. Hence, the code now becomes:

public static int ​factorial​(int n){

if (n == ​0)​ ​// base case
return 1;
else
return n*factorial(n​-1​); ​// recursive case
}

6
Problem Statement - Fibonacci Number

Write a function i​ nt fib(int n)​ that returns nth fibonacci number. For example, if ​n​ =
0, then f​ ib(int n)​ should return 0. If n = 1, then it should return 1. For n > 1, it should
return F(n-1) + F(n-2), i.e., fibonacci of n-1 + fibonacci of n-2.

Function for Fibonacci series:

F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2), F(0) = 0 and F(1) = 1

Approach:​ F
​ iguring out the three steps of PMI and then relating the same using
recursion.
1. Induction Step: ​Calculating the n​th ​Fibonacci number n.
Induction Hypothesis: ​We have already obtained the (n-1)​th​ a
​ nd (n-2)​th
Fibonacci numbers.

2. Expressing F(n )in terms of F(n-1) and F(n-2): ​Fn​​ = F​n-1​ + F​n-2​.

public static int ​f​(int n){

int ans = f(n​-1​) + f(n​-2​); ​//Assumption step
return ans; ​//Solving problem from assumption step
}

3. Let’s dry run the code for achieving the base case: (Consider n= 6)

7
From here we can see that every recursive call either ends at 0 or 1 for which we
already know the answer:​ F(0) = 0 and F(1) = 1​. Hence using this as our base case in
the code below:

public static ​int ​fib​(int n){

​if​ (n <= ​1)
​return​ n;
​else
​return​ (fib(n​-1​) + fib(n​-2​));
}

Recursion and array

Let us take an example to understand recursion on arrays.

Problem Statement - Check If Array Is Sorted.

We have to tell whether the given array is sorted or not using recursion.

For example:
● If the array is {2, 4, 8, 9, 9, 15}, then the output should be Y
​ ES.
● If the array is {5, 8, 2, 9, 3}, then the output should be N
​ O.

Approach: ​Figuring out the three steps of PMI and then relating the same using
recursion.

1. Induction hypothesis or Assumption step: W

​ e assume that we have
already obtained the answer to the array starting from index 1. In other
words, we assume that we know whether the array (starting from the first
index) is sorted.
2. Solving the problem from the results of the “Assumption step”: ​Before
going to the assumption step, we must check the relation between the first

8
 two elements. Find if the first two elements are sorted or not. If the elements
are not in sorted order, then we can directly return false. If the first two
elements are in sorted order, then we will check for the remaining array
through recursion.

public static int ​isSorted​(int[][] a, int size){

​if​ (a[​0​] > a[​1​]) ​// Small Calculation
​return​ false
int isSmallerSorted = isSorted(a+​1​, size-​1​); ​//Assumption step
​return​ isSmallerSorted;
}

3. We can see that in the case when there is only a single element left or no
element left in our array, the array is always sorted. Let’s check the final code
now:

public static int ​isSorted​(int[][] a, int size){

​if​ (size == ​0​ ​or​ size == ​1​) ​// Base case
​return​ true;

​if​ (a[​0​] > a[​1​]) ​// Small calculation

​return​ false;

int isSmallerSorted = isSorted(a+​1​, size-​1​); ​//Recursive call

​return​ isSmallerSorted;
}

// driver code
public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
​int arr[] = {​2​, ​3​, ​6​, ​10​, ​11​};
if​(isSorted(arr, ​5​))
System.out.println(​"Yes"​);
​else
System.out.println(​"No"​);
}

9
Problem Statement - First Index of Number

Given an array of length ​N​ and an integer x

​ ​, you need to find and return the first
index of integer ​x​ present in the array. Return​ -1​ if it is not present in the array. The
first index means that if x
​ ​ is present multiple times in the given array, you have to
return the index at which ​x​ comes first in the array.

To get a better understanding of the problem statement, consider the given cases:
Case 1: A
​ rray = {​1​,​4​,​5​,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: 1
Explanation:​ 4 is present at 1​st​ position in the array.

Case 2:​ A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,​5​,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: -1
Explanation: 4
​ is not present in the array

Case 3:​ A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,​4​,​4​,​4​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: 2
Explanation: 4
​ is present at 3 positions in the array; i.e., [2, 3, 4]. But as the
question says, we have to find out the first occurrence of the target value, so the
answer should be 2.

Approach:
Now, to solve the question, we have to figure out the following three elements of
the solution:

10
 1. Base case
2. Recursive call
3. Small calculation

Small calculation part​:

Let the array be: [5, 5, 6, 2, 5] and x = 6. Now, if we want to find 6 in the array, then
first we have to check with the startIndex which we will increment in each recursive
call.

if(arr[​sI​] == x)
return ​sI;

Recursive Call step:

● Since, in the running example, the startIndex element is not equal to 6, so
we will have to make a recursive call for the remaining array: [
​ ​5​,​6​,​2​,​5​],
x=​6​. Though we will pass the same array but startIndex will be incremented.
● The recursive call will look like this:

f(arr, sI​+1​, x);

● In the recursive call, we are incrementing the startIndex pointer.

● We have to assume that the answer will come from the recursive call. The
answer will come in the form of an integer.
● If the answer is -1, this denotes that the element is not present in the
remaining array.
● If the answer is any other integer (other than -1), then this denotes that the
element is present in the remaining array.

Base case step:

11
 ● The base case for this question can be identified by dry running the case
when you are trying to find an element that is not present in the array.
● For example:​ Consider the array​ [​ 5, 5, 6, 2, 5] and x = 10. On dry running, we
can conclude that the base case will be the one when the startIndex exceeds
size of the array.
● Therefore , then we will return -1. This is because if the base case is reached,
then this means that the element is not present in the entire array.
● We can write the base case as:

if(sI == ​arr.length​) ​// Base Case

return ​-1;

Note:​ The code written from the above insights can be accessed in the solution tab
in the question itself.

Problem Statement - Last Index of Number

Given an array of length ​N​ and an integer x

​ ​, you need to find and return the first
index of integer ​x​ present in the array. Return​ -1​ if it is not present in the array. The
last index means that if x
​ ​ is present multiple times in the given array, you have to
return the index at which ​x​ comes last in the array.

Case 1:​ A
​ rray = {​1​,​4​,​5​,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: 1 (​Explanation: ​4 is present at 1​st​ position in the array, which is the last
and the only place where 4 is present in the given array.)

Case 2:​ A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,5,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: -1 (​Explanation: 4
​ is not present in the array.)

Case 3: A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,​4​,​4​,​4​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: 4 (​Explanation​: 4 is present at 3 positions in the array; i.e., [2, 3, 4], but as
the question says, we have to find out the last occurrence of the target value, so the
answer should be 4.)

12
Approach:
Now, to solve the question, we have to figure out the following three elements of
the solution.
1. Base case
2. Recursive call
3. Small calculation

Let the array be: [5, 5, 6, 2, 5] and x = 6. Now, if we want to find 6 in the array, then
first we have to check with the first index. This is the s​ mall calculation part​.

Code:

if​(arr[​sI​] == x)
​return​ ​sI;

Since, in the running example, the 0​th​ index element is not equal to 6, so we will
have to make a recursive call for the remaining array: [5, 6, 2, 5] and x = 6. This is
the ​recursive call step​. We will start with startIndex from the last index of the
array.

The recursive call will look like this:

f(arr, sI​-1​, x);

● In the recursive call, we are decrementing the startIndex pointer..

● We have to assume that the answer will come for a recursive call. The answer
will come in the form of an integer.

Base Case:
● The base case for this question can be identified by dry running the case
when you are trying to find an element that is not present in the array.
● For example: [​ 5, 5, 6, 2, 5] and x = 10. On dry running, we can conclude that
the base case will be the one when the startIndex passes beyond left of index
0 as we started from the rightmost index.

13
 ● When startIndex becomes -1, then we will return -1.
● This is because if the startIndex reaches -1, then this means that we have
traversed the entire array and we were not able to find the target element.

Note:​ The code written from the above insights can be accessed in the solution tab
in the question itself.

All Indices of A Number

Here, given an array of length N and an integer x, you need to find all the indexes
where x is present in the input array. Save all the indexes in a new array (in
increasing order) and return that array.

Case 1: A
​ rray = {​1​,​4​,​5​,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: [1], the size of the array will be 1 (as 4 is present at 1​st​ position in the array,
which is the only position where 4 is present in the given array).

Case 2: A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,​5​,​7​,​2​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: [], the size of the array will be 0 (as 4 is not present in the array).

Case 3: A
​ rray = {​1​,​3​,​4​,​4​,​4​}, Integer = ​4
Output​: [2, 3, 4], the size of the array will be 3 (as 4 is present at three positions in
the array; i.e., [2, 3, 4]).

Now, let’s think about solving this problem…

Approach:
Now, to solve the question, we have to figure out the following three elements of
the solution:

1. Base case
2. Recursive call
3. Small calculation

14
Let us assume the given array is:​ [5, 6, 5, 5, 6]​ and the target element is ​5​, then the
output array should be​ [0, 2, 3] ​and for the same array, let’s suppose the target
element is 6
​ ​, then the output array should be [​ 1, 4]​.

To solve this question, the base case should be the case when the startIndex
reaches the size of the array. In this case, we should simply return an empty array,
i.e., an array of size 0, since there are no elements left.

The next two components of the solution are Recursive call and Small calculation.
Let us try to figure them out using the following images:

So, the following are the recursive call and small calculation components of the
solution:

Recursive Call

int[][] output = fun(arr, startIndex+1, size, x);

S​mall Calculation:
1. If the element at startIndex of array is equal to the x, then create a new array
of size of output+1. Now copy paste all the elements of the output array to
the new array starting from 1st index and at the 0th index add the element
of startIndex in original array. Finally return this new output.
2. Else is the case when element at startIndex do not match with x. So simply
return the output.

Note:​ The code written from the above insights can be accessed in the solution tab
in the question itself.

Using the same concept, other problems can be solved using recursion, just
remember to apply PMI and three steps of recursion intelligently.

15
Recursion 2
In this module, we are going to understand how to solve different kinds of
problems using recursion.

Recursion With Strings

Recursion in strings is not a very different logic, it is the same as we apply in arrays,
in fact it becomes more easy to pass a complete new string using substring
method.

Problem Statement - Replace pi

You are given a string of size n containing characters a-z. The task is to write
a recursive function to replace all occurrences of pi with 3.14 in the given
string and print the modified string.

Approach

1. Step of the trivial case: I​ n this step, we will prove the desired statement for
a base case like ​size of string = 0​ or ​ 1​.

2. Small calculation and recursive part interlinked:​ In this step, you will first
check character at 0th index and character at 1st index of the string.
- If it comes out to be ‘p’ and ‘i’ then we make a recursive call passing the
string from index 2. And thereafter “3.14” needs to be concatenated
with the recursive answer and return this new result.

1
 - Else we will just make a recursive call passing the string from index 1.
Thereafter the character at 0th index needs to be concatenated with a
recursive answer and return the same.

Binary Search Using Recursion

In a nutshell, this search algorithm takes advantage of a collection of elements that

are already sorted by ignoring half of the elements after just one comparison.

You are given a target element X and a sorted array. You need to check if X is

present in the array. Consider the algorithm given below:

● Compare X with the middle element in the array.

● If X
​ is the same as the middle element, we return the index of the middle
element.
● Else if​ X is greater than the mid element, then X can only lie in the right
(greater) half subarray after the mid element. Thus, we apply the algorithm,
recursively, for the right half. #
​ Condition1
● Else if​ X is smaller, the target X must lie in the left (lower) half. So we apply
the algorithm, recursively, for the left half. ​#Condition2

// Returns the index of x in arr if present, else -1

public static int ​binary_search​(arr, low, high, x){
​if​ (high >= low){​ // Check base case
mid = (high + low) / ​2;
​if​ (arr[mid] == x) ​//If element is at the middle itself
​return​ mid;
​else if​ (arr[mid] > x) ​//Condition 2
​return​ binary_search(arr, low, mid - ​1​, x);
​else​ ​//Condition 1
​return​ binary_search(arr, mid + ​1​, high, x);
}
​else
​return​ ​-1; ​ //​ Element is not present in the array

2
 }

Sorting Techniques Using Recursion - Merge Sort

Merge sort requires dividing a given list into equal halves until it can no longer be
divided. By definition, if it is only one element in the list, it is sorted. Then, merge
sort combines the smaller sorted lists keeping the new list sorted too.
● Step 1 −​ If it is only one element in the list it is already sorted, return.
● Step 2 −​ Divide the list recursively into two halves until it can’t be divided
further.
● Step 3 − M
​ erge the smaller lists into a new list in sorted order.
It has just one disadvantage and that is it’s n
​ ot an in-place sorting t​ echnique i.e. it
creates a copy of the array and then works on that copy.

Pseudo-Code
public static void mergeSort(arr[], l, r){
​if (r > l){
​1.​ Find the middle point to divide the array into two halves:
middle m = (l+r)/​2
​2.​ Call mergeSort ​for​ the first half:
Call mergeSort(arr, l, m)
​3.​ Call mergeSort ​for​ the second half:
Call mergeSort(arr, m+​1​, r)
​4.​ Merge the two halves sorted ​in​ step ​2​ ​and​ 3
​ ​:
Call merge(arr, l, m, r)
​}
}

The following diagram shows the complete merge sort process for an example
array [
​ ​38​,​27​,​43​,​3​,​9​,​82​,​10​]​. If we take a closer look at the diagram, we can see

3
that the array is recursively divided into two halves till the size becomes 1. Once the
size becomes 1, the merge processes come into action and start merging arrays
back till the complete array is merged.

Quick Sort
Quick-sort is based on the ​divide-and-conquer approach​. It works along the lines
of choosing one element as a pivot element and partitioning the array around it
such that:
● The left side of the pivot contains all the elements that are less than the pivot
element

4
 ● The right side contains all elements greater than the pivot.

Algorithm for Quick Sort:

Based on the D
​ ivide-and-Conquer​ approach, the quicksort algorithm can be
explained as:

● Divide: ​The array is divided into subparts taking pivot as the partitioning
point. The elements smaller than the pivot are placed to the left of the pivot
and the elements greater than the pivot are placed to the right side.
● Conquer: T
​ he left and right sub-parts are again partitioned using the by
selecting pivot elements for them. This can be achieved by recursively
passing the subparts into the algorithm.
● Combine: ​This part does not play a significant role in quicksort. The array is
already sorted at the end of the conquer step.

The advantage of quicksort over merge sort is that it does not require any extra
space to sort the given array, that it is an in-place sorting technique.

There are many ways to pick a pivot element:

1. Always pick the first element as the pivot.
2. Always pick the last element as the pivot.
3. Pick a random element as the pivot.
4. Pick the middle element as the pivot.
Given below is a pictorial representation of how this algorithm sorts the given
array:

[​8​,​1​,​5​,​14​,​4​,​15​,​12​,​6​,​2​,​11​,​10​,​7​,​9​]

5
 ● In s​ tep 1​, 8 is taken as the pivot.
● In s​ tep 2​, 6 and 12 are taken as pivots.
● In s​ tep 3​, 4, and 10 are taken as pivots.
● We keep dividing the list about pivots till there are only 2 elements left in a
sublist.

6
Problem Statement - Tower Of Hanoi

Tower of Hanoi​ is a ​mathematical puzzle​ where we have 3

​ ​ rods and N
​ ​ disks. The
objective of the puzzle is to move all disks from ​source rod​ to d
​ estination rod
using a ​third rod (say auxiliary)​. The rules are :
● Only one disk can be moved at a time.
● A disk can be moved only if it is on the top of a rod.
● No disk can be placed on the top of a smaller disk.
Print the steps required to move ​N​ disks from source rod to destination rod.
Source Rod is named as '​ A'​, the destination rod as '​ B'​, and the auxiliary rod as ​'C'​.

Let's see how to solve the problem recursively. We'll start with a really easy case
N=1​. We just need to move one disk from source to destination.
● You can always move ​disk 1​ from peg A
​ ​ to peg B
​ ​ because you know that any
disks below it must be larger.
● There's nothing special about pegs A
​ ​ and ​B​. You can move disk 1 from peg ​B
to peg ​C​ if you like, or from peg C
​ ​ to peg A
​ ,​ or from any peg to any peg.
● Solving the Towers of Hanoi problem with one disk is trivial as it requires
moving only the one disk one time.

Now consider the case ​N=2​. Here's what it looks like at the start:

7
First, move ​disk 1​ from peg ​A​ to peg C
​ ​:

Notice that we're using peg C

​ ​ as a spare peg, a place to put ​disk 1​ so that we can
get at ​disk 2​. Now that d
​ isk 2​—the bottommost disk—is exposed, move it to peg B
​ ​:

Finally, move d
​ isk 1​ from peg ​C​ to peg B
​ :​

8
Now let us solve this problem for 3
​ ​ disks. You need to expose the bottom disk (​disk
3​) so that you could move it from peg A
​ ​ to peg B
​ ​. To expose​ disk 3​, you needed to
move disks 1 and 2 from peg ​A​ to the spare peg, which is peg ​C:​

Wait a minute—it looks like two disks moved in one step, violating the first rule. But
they did not move in one step. You agreed that you can move disks 1 and 2 from
any peg to any peg, ​using three steps.​ The situation above represents what you
have after three steps. (Move ​disk 1​ from peg A
​ ​ to peg ​B​; move d
​ isk 2​ from peg A
​
to peg ​C;​ move ​disk 1​ from peg ​B​ to peg C
​ .​ )

More to the point, by moving disks 1 and 2 from peg ​A​ to peg C
​ ,​ you have
recursively solved a subproblem: move disk​ 1 through n-1​ (remember that n = 3)

9
from peg A
​ ​ to peg ​C.​ Once you've solved this subproblem, you can move​ disk 3
from peg A
​ ​ to peg ​B​:

Now, to finish up, you need to recursively solve the subproblem of moving disks
1 through n-1​, from peg ​C​ to peg B
​ ​. Again, you agreed that you can do so in three
steps. (Move ​disk 1​ from peg ​C​ to peg A
​ ​; move d
​ isk 2​ from peg C
​ ​ to peg B
​ ;​ move
disk 1​ from peg A
​ ​ to peg B
​ ​.) And you're done:

At this point, you might have picked up the pattern. The ​algorithm​ can be
summarised as:

If n
​ == 1​, just move d
​ isk 1​. Otherwise, when n >= 2, solve the problem in three
steps:

10
 ● Recursively solve the subproblem of moving disks ​1 through n-1 f​ rom
whichever peg they start on, to the spare peg.
● Move disk ​N​ from the peg it starts on, to the peg it's supposed to end up on.
● Recursively solve the subproblem of moving disks ​1 through n-1​, from the
spare peg to the peg they're supposed to end up on.

Practice Problems

● Return all subsequences of a given string

● Print all subsequences of a given string
● Return all keypad combinations
● Print all keypad combinations

Refer to the course lecture for detailed explanation of these problems.

11
Time Complexity

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Algorithm Analysis
● Type of Analysis
● Big O Notation
● Determining Time Complexities Theoretically
● Time complexity of some common algorithms

Introduction

An important question while programming is: How efficient is an algorithm or piece

of code?

Efficiency covers lots of resources, including:

1. CPU (time) usage

2. memory usage
3. disk usage
4. network usage

All are important but we are mostly concerned about CPU time. Be careful to
differentiate between:

1
 1. Performance: how much time/memory/disk/etc. is actually used when a
program is run. This depends on the machine, compiler, etc. as well as the
code we write.
2. Complexity: how do the resource requirements of a program or algorithm
scale, i.e. what happens as the size of the problem being solved by the code
gets larger. Complexity affects performance but not vice-­versa. The time
required by a function/method is proportional to the number of "basic
operations" that it performs.

Algorithm Analysis
Algorithm analysis is an important part of computational complexity theory, which

provides theoretical estimation for the required resources of an algorithm to solve

a specific computational problem. Analysis of algorithms is the determination of the

amount of time and space resources required to execute it.

Why Analysis of Algorithms?

● To predict the behavior of an algorithm without implementing it on a specific
computer.
● It is much more convenient to have simple measures for the efficiency of an
algorithm than to implement the algorithm and test the efficiency every time
a certain parameter in the underlying computer system. changes.
● It is impossible to predict the exact behavior of an algorithm. There are too
many influencing factors.
● The analysis is thus only an approximation; it is not perfect.
● More importantly, by analyzing different algorithms, we can compare them
to determine the best one for our purpose.

2
Types of Analysis
To analyze a given algorithm, we need to know, with which inputs the algorithm

takes less time (i.e. the algorithm performs well) and with which inputs the

algorithm takes a long time.

Three types of analysis are generally performed:

• Worst-Case Analysis: The worst-case consists of the input for which the

algorithm takes the longest time to complete its execution.

• Best Case Analysis: The best case consists of the input for which the algorithm

takes the least time to complete its execution.

• Average case: The average case gives an idea about the average running time of

the given algorithm.

There are two main complexity measures of the efficiency of an algorithm:

● Time complexity is a function describing the amount of time an algorithm

takes in terms of the amount of input to the algorithm.
● Space complexity is a function describing the amount of memory (space) an
algorithm takes in terms of the amount of input to the algorithm.

Big-O notation
We can express algorithmic complexity using the big-O notation. For a problem of
size N:

● A constant-time function/method is "order 1": O(1)

● A linear-time function/method is "order N": O(N)
● A quadratic-time function/method is "order N squared": O(N2)

3
Definition: Let g and f be functions from the set of natural numbers to itself. The

function f is said to be O(g) (read big-oh of g), if there is a constant c and a natural

n0 such that f (n) ≤ cg(n) for all n > n0.

Note: O(g) is a set!

Abuse of notation: f = O(g) does not mean f ∈ O(g).

Examples:

● 5n2 + 15 = O(n2), since 5n2 + 15 ≤ 6n2, for all n > 4.

● 5n2 + 15 = O(n3), since 5n2 + 15 ≤ n3, for all n > 6.
● O(1) denotes a constant.
Although we can include constants within the big-O notation, there is no reason to

do that. Thus, we can write O(5n + 4) = O(n).

Note: The big-O expressions do not have constants or low-order terms. This is

because, when N gets large enough, constants and low-order terms don't matter (a

constant-time function/method will be faster than a linear-time function/method,

which will be faster than a quadratic-time function/method).

Determining Time Complexities Theoretically

In general, how can you determine the running time of a piece of code? The answer

is that it depends on what kinds of statements are used.

1. Sequence of statements

statement 1;
statement 2;
...
statement k;

4
The total time is found by adding the times for all statements:

totalTime = time(statement1) + time(statement2) +..+

time(statementk)

2. if-else statements

if (condition):
#sequence of statements 1
else:
#sequence of statements 2

Here, either sequence 1 will execute, or sequence 2 will execute. Therefore, the

worst-case time is the slowest of the two possibilities:

max(time(sequence 1), time(sequence 2))

For example, if sequence 1 is O(N) and sequence 2 is O(1) the worst-case time for

the whole if-then-else statement would be O(N).

3. for loops

for i in range N:
#sequence of
statements

Here, the loop executes N times, so the sequence of statements also executes N

times. Now, assume that all the statements are of the order of O(1), then the total

time for the for loop is N * O(1), which is O(N) overall.

4. Nested loops

5
for i in range N:
for i in range
M:
#statements

The outer loop executes N times. Every time the outer loop executes, the inner loop

executes M times. As a result, the statements in the inner loop execute a total of N

* M times. Assuming the complexity of the statement inside the inner loop to be

O(1), the overall complexity will be O(N * M).

Sample Problem:
What will be the Time Complexity of following while loop in terms of ‘N’ ?

while N>0:
N =
N//8

We can write the iterations as:

Iteration Value of N
Number

1 N

2 N//8

3 N//64

... ...

k N//8k

6
We know, that in the last i.e. the kth iteration, the value of N would become 1, thus,

we can write:

N//8k = 1
=> N = 8k
=> log(N) = log(8k)
=> k*log(8) =
log(N)
=> k =
log(N)/log(8)
=> k = log8(N)

Now, clearly the number of iterations in this example is coming out to be of the

order of log8(N). Thus, the time complexity of the above while loop will be

O(log8(N)).

Qualitatively, we can say that after every iteration, we divide the given number by 8,

and we go on dividing like that, till the number remains greater than 0. This gives

the number of iterations as O(log8(N)).

Time Complexity Analysis of Some Common Algorithms

Linear Search
Linear Search time complexity analysis is done below-

Best case- In the best possible case:

● The element being searched will be found in the first position.

7
 ● In this case, the search terminates in success with just one comparison.
● Thus in the best case, the linear search algorithm takes O(1) operations.
Worst Case- In the worst possible case:

● The element being searched may be present in the last position or may not
present in the array at all.
● In the former case, the search terminates in success with N comparisons.
● In the latter case, the search terminates in failure with N comparisons.
● Thus in the worst case, the linear search algorithm takes O(N) operations.

Binary Search
Binary Search time complexity analysis is done below-

● In each iteration or each recursive call, the search gets reduced to half of the
array.
● So for N elements in the array, there are log2N iterations or recursive calls.
Thus, we have-

● Time Complexity of the Binary Search Algorithm is O(log2N).

● Here, N is the number of elements in the sorted linear array.
This time complexity of binary search remains unchanged irrespective of the

element position even if it is not present in the array.

Big-O Notation Practice Examples

Example-1 Find upper bound for f(n) = 3n + 8

Solution: 3n + 8 ≤ 4n, for all n ≥ 8

∴ 3n + 8 = O(n) with c = 4 and n0 = 8

8
Example-2 Find upper bound for f(n) = n2 + 1

Solution: n2 + 1 ≤ 2n2, for all n ≥ 1

∴ n2 + 1 = O(n2) with c = 2 and n0 = 1

Example-3 Find upper bound for f(n) = n4 + 100n2 + 50

Solution: n4 + 100n2 + 50 ≤ 2n4, for all n ≥ 11

∴ n4 + 100n2 + 50 = O(n4 ) with c = 2 and n0 = 11

9
Space Complexity Analysis
Introduction
● The space complexity of an algorithm represents the amount of extra
memory space needed by the algorithm in its life cycle.
● Space needed by an algorithm is equal to the sum of the following two
components:

○ A fixed part is a space required to store certain data and variables (i.e.
simple variables and constants, program size, etc.), that are not
dependent on the size of the problem.
○ A variable part is a space required by variables, whose size is
dependent on the size of the problem. For example, recursion stack
space, dynamic memory allocation, etc.

● Space complexity S
​ (p)​ of any algorithm ​p​ is S
​ (p) = A + Sp(I)​ Where A
​ ​ is
treated as the fixed part and S
​ (I)​ is treated as the variable part of the
algorithm which depends on instance characteristic​ I​.

Note:​ It’s necessary to mention that space complexity depends on a variety of

things such as the programming language, the compiler, or even the machine
running the algorithm.
To get warmed up, let’s consider a simple operation that sums two integers
(numbers without a fractional part):

public static int ​difference​(int a, int b){

​return​ a + b;
}

In this particular method, three variables are used and allocated in memory:

1
The first integer argument, a; the second integer argument, b; and the returned
sum which is also an integer.
In Java, these three variables point to three different memory locations. We can see
that the space complexity is constant, so it can be expressed in big-O notation as
O(1)​.
Next, let’s determine the space complexity of a program that sums all integer
elements in an array:

public static int ​sumArray​(int[] array){

int sum = ​0;
​for​(int i=0; i<array.length; i++)
sum += array[i];
​return​ sum;
}

Again, let’s list all variables present in the above code:

● array
● size
● sum
● iterator

The space complexity of this code snippet is ​O(n), w

​ hich comes from the reference
to the array that was passed to the function as an argument.
Let us now analyze the space complexity for a few common sorting algorithms. This
will give you deeper insight into complexity analysis.

Quick-Sort Space Complexity Analysis

Let us consider the various scenarios possible :
Best case scenario: ​The best-case scenario occurs when the partitions are as
evenly balanced as possible, i.e their sizes on either side of the pivot element are
either equal or have a size difference of 1 of each other.

2
 ● Case 1:​ The case when the sizes of the sublist on either side of the pivot
become equal occurs when the subarray has an odd number of elements
and the pivot is right in the middle after partitioning. Each partition will have
(n-1)/2​ elements.
● Case 2: T
​ he size difference of 1 between the two sublists on either side of
pivot happens if the subarray has an even number, ​n,​ of elements. One
partition will have n
​ /2 e
​ lements with the other having (​ n/2)-1​.
● In either of these cases, each partition will have at most n
​ /2​ elements, and
the tree representation of the subproblem sizes will be as below:

Worst case scenario:

This happens when we encounter the most unbalanced partitions possible, then
the original call takes place ​n​ times, the recursive call on​ n-1​ elements will take
place ​(n-1)​ times, the recursive call on​ (n-2) e
​ lements will take place (​ n-2)​ times,
and so on.

Based on the above-mentioned cases we can conclude that:

● The space complexity is calculated based on the space used in the recursion
stack. The worst-case space used will be​ O(n)​.
● The average case space used will be of the order ​O(log n).
● The worst-case space complexity becomes O
​ (n)​ when the algorithm
encounters its worst-case when we need to make n
​ ​recursive calls for getting
a sorted list.

3
Practice Problems
Problem 1: W
​ hat is the time & space complexity of the following code:

int a = ​0
int b = ​ 0
for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){
a = a + i;
}

for​(int j=0; j<m; j++){

b = b + j;
}

Problem 2: W
​ hat is the time & space complexity of the following code:

int a = ​0​;
int b = ​0​;
for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){
​for​(int j=0; j<n; j++){
a = a + j;
}
}

for​(int k=0; k<n; k++){

b = b + k
}

Problem 3: W
​ hat is the time and space complexity of the following code:

int a = ​0​;
for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){
int j = n;
​while​ (j>i){
a = a + i + j;
j = j​-1;
}
}

4
Linked-List 2
Now moving further with the topic, let’s try to solve some problems now...

The Midpoint of A Linked List

The Trivial Approach- Two Passes

● This approach requires us to traverse through the linked list twice i.e. 2
passes.
● In the first pass, we will calculate the ​length​ of the linked list. After every
iteration, update the​ length​ variable.
● In the second pass, we will find the element of the linked list at the
(length-1)/2​th​ ​position. This element shall be the middle element in the
linked list.
● However, we wish to traverse the linked list only once, therefore let us see
another approach.

The Optimal Approach- One Pass

● The midpoint of a linked list can be found out very easily by taking two
pointers, one named s​ low ​and the other named f​ ast​.
● As their names suggest, they will move in the same way respectively.
● The ​fast​ pointer will move ahead ​two pointers at a time​, while the​ slow
pointer one will move at a speed of ​a pointer at a time​.
● In this way, when the fast pointer will reach the end, by that time the slow
pointer will be at the middle position of the array.
● These pointers will be updated like this:
○ slow = slow.next
○ fast = fast.next.next

1
Java Code
public static Node ​returnMiddle​(Node headNode){
​if​ (headNode == null ​||​ headNode.next == null)
​return​ head;
Node slow = headNode; ​//Slow pointer
Node fast = headNode.next; ​//Fast Pointer
​while​ (fast != null ​&& ​fast.next != null){
fast = fast.next.next;
slow = slow.next;
}
​return​ slow; ​// Slow pointer shall point to our middle element
}

Note:
● For odd length there will be only one middle element, but for the even length
there will be two middle elements.
● In case of an even length LL, both these approaches will return the ​first
middle element​ and the other one will be the direct n
​ ext o
​ f the first middle
element.

Merge Two sorted linked lists

● We will be merging the linked list, similar to the way we performed merge
over two sorted arrays.
● We will be using the two ​head​ pointers, compare their data and the one
found smaller will be directed to the new linked list, and increase the h
​ ead
pointer of the corresponding linked list.
● Just remember to maintain the h
​ ead​ pointer separately for the new sorted
list.
● And also if one of the linked list’s length ends and the other one’s not, then
the remaining linked list will directly be appended to the final list.
● Try to implement this approach on your own.

2
Mergesort over a linked list

● Like the merge sort algorithm is applied over the arrays, the same way we
will be applying it over the linked list.
● Just the difference is that in the case of arrays, the middle element could be
easily figured out, but here you have to find the middle element, each time
you send the linked list to split into two halves using the above approach.
● The merging part of the divided lists can also be done using the m
​ erge
sorted linked lists code ​as discussed above.
● The functionalities of this code have already been implemented by you, just
use them directly in your functions at the specified places.
● Try to implement this approach on your own.

Reverse the linked list

Recursive approach:

● In this approach, we will store the last element of the list in the small answer,
and then update that by adding the​ next last node​ and so on.
● Finally, when we will be reaching the first element, we will assign the n
​ ext​ to
null​.
● Follow the Java code below, for better understanding.

public static Node ​reverseLinkedList​(Node head){

​if​ (headNode == null ​||​ headNode.next == null)
​return​ head;

Node smallHead = reverseLinkedList(head.next);

Node tail = smallHead;
​while​(tail.next != null){
tail = tail.next;
}
tail.next = head;

3
 head.next = ​null;
​return​ smallHead;
}
After calculation, you can see that this code has a time complexity of O
​ (n​2​)​. Now
let’s think about how to improve it.

Recursive approach (Optimal):

● There is another recursive approach to the order of ​O(n)​.

● What we will be doing is that head but also the tail pointer, which can save
our time in searching over the list to figure out the tail pointer for appending
or removing.
● Check out the given code for your reference:

class Pair{
Node ​head​;
Node ​tail​;
public Pair(​Node head, Node tail​){
​this.head = head;
this.tail = tail;
}
}

class main{
private static Pair ​reverse2Helper​(Node head){
​if​ (head == null ​||​ head.next == null)
​return​ new Pair(head, head);

Pair p = reverse2Helper(head.next);
p.tail.next= head;
head.next = null​;
​return​ new Pair(p.head,head);
}

​private static Node ​reverse2​(Node head){

​return​ reverse2Helper(head).head;
}

4
 ​// Main driver function can be written by yourself
}

Now let us try to improve this code further.

A simple observation is that the ​tail i​ s always ​head.next​. By making the recursive
call we can directly use this as our ​tail​ pointer and reverse the linked list by
tail.next = head​. Refer to the code below, for better understanding.

public static Node ​reverse3​(Node head){

if​ (head == null ​||​ head.next == null)
​return ​head​;

smallHead = reverse3(head.next);
tail = head.next;
tail.next = head;
head.next = ​null;
return​ smallHead;
}

Iterative approach:

● We will be using three-pointers in this approach: p

​ revious, current, ​and
next.
● Initially, the ​previous​ pointer would be ​null a
​ s in the reversed linked list, we
want the original head to be the last element pointing to n
​ ull .​
● The ​current p
​ ointer will point to the current node whose ​next​ will be
pointing to the previous element but before pointing it to the previous
element, we need to store the next element’s address somewhere otherwise
we will lose that element.
● Similarly, iteratively, we will keep updating the pointers as c
​ urrent​ to the
next​, p
​ revious​ to the ​current,​ and ​next​ to c
​ urrent​’s​ next​.

Refer to the given Java code for better understanding:

5
public static Node ​reverse​(Node head){
if​ (head == null ​||​ head.next == null)
​return ​head​;

Node prev = null;

Node curr = head.next;
Node next = curr.next;

​while​ (next != null){

curr.next = prev;
prev = curr;
curr = next;
next = next.next;
}
curr.next = prev;
​return​ curr;
}

6
Linked-List 1
Data Structures
Data structures are just a way to store and organize our data so that it can be used and
retrieved as per our requirements. Using these can affect the efficiency of our algorithms
to a greater extent. There are many data structures that we will be going through
throughout the course, linked-lists are a part of them.

Introduction
A ​Linked List​ is a data structure used for storing collections of data. A linked list has the
following properties:
● Successive elements are connected by pointers.
● Can grow or shrink in size during the execution of a program.
● Can be made just as long as required (until systems memory exhausts).
● Does not waste memory space (but takes some extra memory for pointers). It
allocates memory as the list grows.

Basic Properties:
● Each element or node of a list is comprising of two items:
○ Data
○ Pointer(reference) to the next node.
● In a Linked List, the elements are not stored at contiguous memory locations.
● The first node of a linked list is known as H
​ ead​.
● The last node of a linked list is known as ​Tail.
● The last node has a reference to null.

1
Types of A Linked List

● Singly-Linked List: ​Generally “linked list” means a singly linked list.​ E

​ ach node
contains only one link which points to the subsequent node in the list.

● Doubly-Linked List: ​It’s a two-way linked list as each node points not only to the
next pointer but also to the previous pointer.

● Circular-Linked List: T
​ here is no tail node i.e., the next field is never​ null ​and the
next field for the last node points to the head node.

● Circular Doubly-Linked List: ​Combination of both Doubly linked list and circular
linked list.

2
Node Class (Singly Linked List)
// Node class
class​ ​Node​{
int data;
Node next;
​// Function to initialize the node object
​Node​(int data){
this.data = data; ​// Data that the node contains
this.next = ​null​; ​// Next node that this node points to
}
}

Note​: T
​ he first node in the linked list is known as ​Head​ pointer and the last node is
referenced as T
​ ail​ pointer. We must never lose the address of the head pointer as it
references the starting address of the linked list and if lost, would lead to loss of the list.

Traversing the Linked List

Let us assume that the head points to the first node of the list. To traverse the list we do
the following:
● Follow the pointers.
● Display the contents of the nodes (or count) as they are traversed.
● Stop when the next pointer points to n
​ ull​.

Printing the Linked List

To print the linked list, we will start traversing the list from the beginning of the list(head)
until we reach the ​null p
​ ointer which will always be the tail pointer. Let us add a new
function p
​ rintList()​ to our ​LinkedList​ class.

// This function prints contents of linked list starting from head

public static void ​printList​(Node headNode){
Node temp = headNode; ​//Start from the head of the list
​while​ (temp != null){ ​//Till we reach the last node
​System.out.print​(temp.data + “ ”);
temp = temp.next; ​//Update temp to point to the next Node
​}
}

3
Insertion of A Node in a Singly Linked List
There are 3 possible cases:
● Inserting a new node before the head (at the beginning).
● Inserting a new node after the tail (at the end of the list).
● Inserting a new node in the middle of the list (random location).

Case 1: Insert node at the beginning:

In this case, a new node is inserted before the current head node. Only one next pointer
needs to be modified (new node’s next pointer) and it can be done in two steps:

• Create a new node. Update the n

​ ext​ pointer of the ​new node​, to point to the current
head.

• Update h
​ ead​ pointer to point to the n
​ ew node​.

Java Code:

public static Node ​insertAtStart​(Node head, int data){

Node newNode = new Node(data); ​//Create a new node
newNode.next = head; ​//Set next node of new node to current head
head = newNode; ​//Update the head pointer to the new node
​return ​head;
}

4
Case 2: Insert node at the ending:

In this case, we need to modify two next pointers (last nodes next pointer and new nodes
next pointer).

• New node’s n
​ ext​ pointer points to n
​ ull​.

• Last node’s n
​ ext p
​ ointer points to the ​new node​.

Java Code:

public static Node ​insertAtEnd​(Node head, int data){

Node newNode = new Node(data); ​//Create a new node
​if​ (head ​== null)​{ ​//Incase of empty LL
head = newNode;
​return;
}
Node n = head;
​while​ (n.next != ​null​)​ //If not empty traverse till last node
n = n.next;
n.next = newNode; ​//Set next = new node
​return head;
}

5
Case 3: Insert node anywhere in the middle: ​(At any specified Index)

Let us assume that we are given a position where we want to insert the new node. In this
case, also, we need to modify two next pointers.

• If we want to add an element at position 3 then we stop at position 2. That means we

traverse 2 nodes and insert the new node.

• For simplicity let us assume that the second node is called the​ position node​. The new
node points to the next node of the position where we want to add this node.

• Position node’s n
​ ext​ pointer now points to the new node.

6
Java Code:

public static Node ​insertAtIndex​ (int head, int index, int data){
​if​ (index == ​1)​ ​// Insert at beginning
insertAtStart(head, data);
int i = ​1;
Node n = head;
​while​ (i < index​-1​ ​&&​ n != null){
n = n.next;
i = i+​1;
}
​if​ (n == null)
print(​"Index out of bound"​);
​else​{
Node newNode = new Node(data);
newNode.next = n.next;
n.next = newNode;
}
}

Deletion of A Node in a Singly Linked List

Similar to insertion, here we also have three cases.

● Deleting the first node
● Deleting the last node
● Deleting an intermediate node.

Deleting the First Node in Singly Linked List

It can be done in two steps:

• Create a temporary node which will point to the same node as that of the head.

7
• Now, move the head nodes pointer to the next node and dispose of the temporary node.

Deleting the Last Node in Singly Linked List

In this case, the last node is removed from the list. This operation is a bit trickier than
removing the first node because the algorithm should find a node, which is previous to the
tail. It can be done in three steps:

• Traverse the list and while traversing maintain the previous node address also. By the
time we reach the end of the list, we will have two pointers, one pointing to the tail node
and the other pointing to the node before the tail node.

• Update the previous node’s next pointer with n

​ ull​.

8
• Dispose of the tail node.

Deleting an Intermediate Node in Singly Linked List

In this case, the node to be removed is always located between two nodes. Head and tail
links are not updated in this case. Such removal can be done in two steps:

• Similar to the previous case, maintain the previous node while traversing the list. Once we
find the node to be deleted, change the previous node’s next pointer to the next pointer of
the node to be deleted.

• Dispose of the current node to be deleted.

9
Insert node recursively

Follow the steps below and try to implement it yourselves:

● If ​Head​ is n
​ ull ​and p
​ osition​ is not 0. Then exit it.
● If ​Head​ is n
​ ull ​and p
​ osition​ is 0. Then insert a new Node to the H
​ ead ​and exit it.
● If ​Head​ is not ​null a
​ nd​ position​ is 0. Then the H
​ ead​ reference set to the new Node.
Finally, a new Node set to the Head and exit it.
● If not, iterate until finding the Nth position or ​end​.

For the code, refer to the Solution section of the problem.

Delete node recursively

Follow the steps below and try to implement it yourselves:

● If the node to be deleted is the​ root​, simply delete it.

● To delete a middle node, we must have a pointer to the node previous to the node
to be deleted. So if the position is not zero, we run a loop position-1 times and get a
pointer to the previous node.
● Now, simply point the previous node’s next to the current node’s next and delete
the current node.

For the code, refer to the Solution section of the problem.

10
Stacks

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Operations on stack.
● Implementation of stack.
● Use of inbuilt stack.

Introduction
● Stacks are simple data structures that allow us to store and retrieve data
sequentially.
● A stack is a linear data structure like arrays and linked lists.
● It is an abstract data type(ADT).
● In a stack, the order in which the data arrives is essential. It follows the LIFO
order of data insertion/abstraction. LIFO stands for Last In First Out.
● Consider the example of a pile of books:

1
 Here, unless the book at the topmost position is removed from the pile, we
can’t have access to the second book from the top and similarly, for the
books below the second one. When we apply the same technique over the
data in our program then, this pile-type structure is said to be a stack.

Like deletion, we can only insert the book at the top of the pile rather than at
any other position. This means that the object/data that made its entry at the
last would be one to come out first, hence known as LIFO.

Operations on the stack:

● In a stack, insertion and deletion are done at one end, called top.
● Insertion: This is known as a push operation.
● Deletion: This is known as a pop operation.

Main stack operations

• push (int data): Insert data onto the stack.

• int pop(): Removes and returns the last inserted element from the stack.

Auxiliary stack operations

2
• int top(): Returns the last inserted element without removing it.

• int size(): Returns the number of elements stored in the stack.

• boolean isEmpty(): Indicates whether any elements are stored in the stack or
not.

Performance
Let n be the number of elements in the stack. The complexities of stack operations
with this representation can be given as:

Exceptions
● Attempting the execution of an operation may sometimes cause an error
condition, called an exception.
● Exceptions are said to be “thrown” by an operation that cannot be executed.
● Attempting the execution of pop() on an empty stack throws an exception
called Stack Underflow.
● Trying to push an element in a full-stack throws an exception called Stack
Overflow.

3
Implementing stack- Simple Array Implementation
This implementation of stack ADT uses an array. In the array, we add elements
from left to right and use a variable to keep track of the index of the top element.

Consider the given implementation in Java for more understanding:

class StackUsingArray{
int[] data; // Dynamic array created serving as stack
int nextIndex // To keep the track of current top index
int capacity; // To keep the track of total size of stack

public StackUsingArray(int totalSize) { //Constructor

data = new int[totalSize];
nextIndex = 0;
capacity = totalSize;
}

// return the number of elements present in my stack

public int size() {
return nextIndex;
}

public boolean isEmpty() {

/*
if(nextIndex == 0) {
return true;
}
else {
return false;
}
*/

return nextIndex == 0; //Above program written in short-hand

}

// insert element

4
 public void push(int element) {
if(nextIndex == capacity) {
System.out.println("Stack full");
return;
}
data[nextIndex] = element;
nextIndex++; //Size incremented
}

// delete element
public int pop() {
//Before deletion check for empty to prevent underflow
if(isEmpty()) {
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
nextIndex--; //Conditioned satisfied so deleted
return data[nextIndex];
}

//to return the top element of the stack

public int top() {
if(isEmpty()) { // checked for empty stack
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
return data[nextIndex - 1];
}
}

Limitations of Simple Array Implementation

In programming languages like C++, Java, etc, the maximum size of an array must
first be defined i.e. it is fixed and it cannot be changed.

Dynamic Stack

There is one limitation to the above approach, which is the size of the stack is fixed.
In order to overcome this limitation, whenever the size of the stack reaches its limit

5
we will simply double its size. To get the better understanding of this approach,
look at the code below…

class StackUsingArray{
int[] data; // Dynamic array created serving as stack
int nextIndex // To keep the track of current top index
int capacity; // To keep the track of total size of stack

public StackUsingArray() { //Constructor

data = new int[4];
nextIndex = 0;
capacity = 4;
}

// return the number of elements present in my stack

public int size() {
return nextIndex;
}

public boolean isEmpty() {

/*
if(nextIndex == 0) {
return true;
}
else {
return false;
}
*/

return nextIndex == 0; //Above program written in short-hand

}

// insert element
public void push(int element) {
if(nextIndex == capacity) {
int newData[] = new int[2 * capacity]; //Capacity doubled
for(int i = 0; i < capacity; i++) {
newData[i] = data[i]; //Elements copied
}
capacity *= 2;
data = newData;
}
data[nextIndex] = element;
nextIndex++; //Size incremented
}

6
 // delete element
public int pop() {
//Before deletion check for empty to prevent underflow
if(isEmpty()) {
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
nextIndex--; //Conditioned satisfied so deleted
return data[nextIndex];
}

//to return the top element of the stack

public int top() {
if(isEmpty()) { // checked for empty stack
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
return data[nextIndex - 1];
}
}

Stack using templates for Generic Data type Stack

While implementing the dynamic stack, we kept ourselves limited to the data of
type integer only, but what if we want a generic stack(something that works for
every other data type as well). For this we will be using templates. Refer the code
below(based on the similar approach as used while creating dynamic stack):

class StackUsingArray <T>{

T[] data; // Dynamic array created serving as stack
int nextIndex // To keep the track of current top index
int capacity; // To keep the track of total size of stack

public StackUsingArray() { //Constructor

data = new T[4];
nextIndex = 0;
capacity = 4;
}

// return the number of elements present in my stack

7
 public int size() {
return nextIndex;
}

public boolean isEmpty() {

/*
if(nextIndex == 0) {
return true;
}
else {
return false;
}
*/

return nextIndex == 0; //Above program written in short-hand

}

// insert element
public void push(T element) {
if(nextIndex == capacity) {
T newData[] = new T[2 * capacity]; //Capacity doubled
for(int i = 0; i < capacity; i++) {
newData[i] = data[i]; //Elements copied
}
capacity *= 2;
data = newData;
}
data[nextIndex] = element;
nextIndex++; //Size incremented
}

// delete element
public T pop() {
//Before deletion check for empty to prevent underflow
if(isEmpty()) {
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}
nextIndex--; //Conditioned satisfied so deleted
return data[nextIndex];
}

//to return the top element of the stack

public T top() {
if(isEmpty()) { // checked for empty stack
System.out.println("Stack is empty");
return Integer.MIN_VALUE;

8
 }
return data[nextIndex - 1];
}
}

You can see that every function whose return type was int initially now returns T
type (i.e., template-type).

Generally, the template approach of stack is preferred as it can be used for any
data type irrespective of it being int, char, float, etc.

Stack using Generic Linked Lists

Till now we have learned how to implement a stack using arrays, but as discussed
earlier, we can also create a stack with the help of linked lists. All the five functions
that stacks can perform could be made using linked lists:

class Node<T> { //Node class for Linked list

T data;
Node<T> next;

Node(T data) {
this.data = data;
next = NULL;
}
Node() {
next = null;
}
}

class Stack {
Node<T> head;
Node<T> tail;
int size; // number of elements present in stack

public Stack() { // Constructor to initialize the head and

//tail to NULL and size to zero
}

9
 public int getSize() { // traverse the LL and return its length

public boolean isEmpty() {// check if the head pointer is NULL or not

public void push(T element) { // insert the newNode at the end

// update the tail node
}

public T pop() { // remove the tail node and then update the tail
// pointer to the previous position
}

public T top() { //return the value at the tail node.

}
}

Inbuilt Stack in Java

Java provides the in-built stack in it’s library which can be used instead of
creating/writing a stack class each time. To use this stack, we need to use the
import following file:

import java.util.Stacks;

To declare a stack use the following syntax:

Stack <datatype_that_will_be_stored> Name_of_stack = new Stack<>();

There are various functions available in this module:

● st.push(value_to_be_inserted) : To insert a value in the stack

● st.top() : Returns the value at the top of the stack
● st.pop() : Deletes the value at the top from the stack.
● st.size() : Returns the total number of elements in the stack.

10
 ● st.isEmpty() : Returns a boolean value (True for empty stack and vice versa).

Problem Statement- Balanced Parenthesis

For a given string expression containing only round brackets or parentheses, check
if they are balanced or not. Brackets are said to be balanced if the bracket which
opens last, closes first. You need to return a boolean value indicating whether the
expression is balanced or not.

Approach:
● We will use stacks.
● Each time, when an open parenthesis is encountered, push it in the stack,
and when closed parenthesis is encountered, match it with the top of the
stack and pop it.
● If the stack is empty at the end, return Balanced otherwise, Unbalanced.

Java Code:
public String checkBalanced(inputStr){//Function to check parentheses
Stack<Character> s = new Stack<>(); //The stack
for(char i : inputStr.toCharArray){
if (i==’[’ || i==’{’ || i==’(’)
s.push(i);
else if (i==’]’ || i==’}’ || i==’)’)
if (s.size()>0 && s.top()==i)
s.pop();
else
return "Unbalanced";
}
if (s.size() == 0)
return "Balanced";
else
return "Unbalanced";
}

11
Queues

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Operations on queue.
● Implementation of queue.
● Use of inbuilt queue.

Introduction
● Like stack, the queue is also an abstract data type.
● As the name suggests, in queue elements are inserted at one end while
deletion takes place at the other end.
● Queues are open at both ends, unlike stacks that are open at only one
end(the top).

Let us consider a queue at a movie ticket counter:

12
 ● Here, the person who comes first in the queue is served first with the ticket
while the new seekers of tickets are added back in the line.
● This order is known as First In First Out (FIFO).
● In programming terminology, the operation to add an item to the queue is
called "enqueue", whereas removing an item from the queue is known as
"dequeue".

Working of A Queue

Queue operations work as follows:

1. Two pointers called FRONT and REAR are used to keep track of the first and
last elements in the queue.
2. When initializing the queue, we set the value of FRONT and REAR to -1.
3. On enqueuing an element, we increase the value of the REAR index and
place the new element in the position pointed to by REAR.
4. On dequeuing an element, we return the value pointed to by FRONT and
increase the FRONT index.
5. Before enqueuing, we check if the queue is already full.
6. Before dequeuing, we check if the queue is already empty.
7. When enqueuing the first element, we set the value of FRONT to 0.
8. When dequeuing the last element, we reset the values of FRONT and REAR to
-1.

13
14
15
Applications of queue

● CPU Scheduling, Disk Scheduling.

● When data is transferred asynchronously between two processesQueue is
used for synchronization. eg: IO Buffers, pipes, file IO, etc.
● Handling of interrupts in real-time systems.
● Call Center phone systems use Queues to hold people in order of their
calling.

Implementation of A Queue Using Array

Queue contains majorly these five functions that we will be implementing:

● enqueue(): Insertion of element

● dequeue(): Deletion of element
● front(): returns the element present in the front position
● getSize(): returns the total number of elements present at current stage
● isEmpty(): returns boolean value, TRUE for empty and FALSE for non-empty.

Now, let’s implement these functions in our program.

NOTE: We will be using templates in the implementation, so that it can be

generalised.

class QueueUsingArray <T> {

T data; // to store data
int nextIndex; // to store next index
int firstIndex; // to store the first index
int size; // to store the size
int capacity; // to store the capacity it can hold

public QueueUsingArray(int s) { // Constructor to initialize values

data = new T[s];
nextIndex = 0;
firstIndex = -1;

16
 size = 0;
capacity = s;
}

public int getSize() { // Returns number of elements present

return size;
}

public boolean isEmpty() { // To check if queue is empty or not

return size == 0;
}

public void enqueue(T element) { // Function for insertion

if(size == capacity) { // To check if the queue is already full
System.out.println("Queue Full!");
return;
}
data[nextIndex] = element; // Otherwise added a new element
nextIndex = (nextIndex + 1) % capacity ; // in cyclic way
if(firstIndex == -1) { // Suppose if queue was empty
firstIndex = 0;
}
size++; // Finally, incremented the size
}

public T front() { // To return the element at front position

if(isEmpty()) { // To check if the queue was initially empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return 0;
}
return data[firstIndex]; // otherwise returned the element
}

public T dequeue() { // Function for deletion

if(isEmpty()) { // To check if the queue was empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return 0;
}
T ans = data[firstIndex];
firstIndex = (firstIndex + 1) % capacity;
size--; // Decrementing the size by 1
if(size == 0) { // If queue becomes empty after deletion, then
firstIndex = -1; // resetting the original parameters
nextIndex = 0;

17
 }
return ans;
}
}

Dynamic queue

In the dynamic queue. we will be preventing the condition where the queue
becomes full and we were not able to insert any further elements in that.

As we all know that when the queue is full it means the internal array that we are
using in the form of queue has become full, we can resolve this problem by creating
a new array of double the size of previous one and copy pasting the elements of
previous array to the new one. Now this new array which has the double size will be
considered as our queue. We will do this in insert function when we check for
queue full (size==capacity), when this happens we will discard the previous array
and create a new array of double size, copy pasting all the elements so that we
don't lose the data. Let’s now check the implementation of the same.

Implementation is pretty similar to the static approach discussed above. A few

minor changes are there which could be followed with the help of comments in the
code below.

class QueueUsingArray <T> {

T data; // to store data
int nextIndex; // to store next index
int firstIndex; // to store the first index
int size; // to store the size
int capacity; // to store the capacity it can hold

public QueueUsingArray() { // Constructor to initialize values

data = new T[4];
nextIndex = 0;
firstIndex = -1;
size = 0;
capacity = 4;

18
 }

public int getSize() { // Returns number of elements present

return size;
}

public boolean isEmpty() { // To check if queue is empty or not

return size == 0;
}

public void enqueue(T element) { // Function for insertion

if(size == capacity) { // To check if the queue is already full
T[] newData = new T[2 * capacity];// we simply doubled
// the capacity
int j = 0;
for(int i=firstIndex; i<capacity; i++) {// Now copied the
//Elements to new one
newData[j] = data[i];
j++;
}
for(int i=0; i<firstIndex; i++) {//Overcoming the initial
// cyclic insertion by copying
// the elements linearly
newData[j] = data[i];
j++;
}
data = newData;
firstIndex = 0;
nextIndex = capacity;
capacity *= 2; // Updated here as well
}
data[nextIndex] = element; // Otherwise added a new element
nextIndex = (nextIndex + 1) % capacity ; // in cyclic way
if(firstIndex == -1) { // Suppose if queue was empty
firstIndex = 0;
}
size++; // Finally, incremented the size
}

public T front() { // To return the element at front position

if(isEmpty()) { // To check if the queue was initially empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return 0;
}

19
 return data[firstIndex]; // otherwise returned the element
}

public T dequeue() { // Function for deletion

if(isEmpty()) { // To check if the queue was empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return 0;
}
T ans = data[firstIndex];
firstIndex = (firstIndex + 1) % capacity;
size--; // Decrementing the size by 1
if(size == 0) { // If queue becomes empty after deletion, then
firstIndex = -1; // resetting the original parameters
nextIndex = 0;
}
return ans;
}
}

Queues using Generic LL

Given below is an implementation of Queue using Linked List. This is similar to the
way we wrote the LL Implementation for a Stack:

class Node <T> { // Node class for linked list, no change needed
T data;
Node<T> next;
Node(T data) {
this -> data = data;
next = NULL;
}
}

class Queue <T> {

Node<T> head; // for storing front of queue
Node<T> tail; // for storing tail of queue
int size; // number of elements in queue

public Queue() { // Constructor to initialise head, tail to NULL

// and size to 0
}

public int getSize() { // just return the size of linked list

20
 }

public boolean isEmpty() { // just check if head is NULL or not

public void enqueue(T element) { // Simply insert the new node

//at the tail of LL

public T front() { // Returns the head pointer of LL.

// Be careful for the case when size is 0
}

public T dequeue() { // moves the head pointer one position ahead

// and deletes the head pointer.
} // Also decrease the size by 1
}

In-built Queue in Java

Java provides the in-built queue in it’s library which can be used instead of
creating/writing a queue class each time. To use this queue, we need to use the
import following file:

import java.util.Queues;
import java.util.LinkedList;

Key functions of this in-built queue:

● .push(element_value) : Used to insert the element in the queue

● .pop() : Used to delete the element from the queue
● .front() : Returns the element at front of the queue

21
 ● .size() : Returns the total number of elements present in the queue
● .isEmpty() : Returns TRUE if the queue is empty and vice versa

Let us now consider an example to implement queue using inbuilt library:

Problem Statement: Implement the following parts using queue:

1. Declare a queue of integers and insert the following elements in the same
order as mentioned: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.

2. Now tell the element that is present at the front position of the queue

3. Now delete an element from the front side of the queue and again tell the
element present at the front position of the queue.

4. Print the size of the queue and also tell if the queue is empty or not.

5. Now, print all the elements that are present in the queue.

import java.util.Queues;
import java.util.LinkedList;

Class QueueTesting{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Queue<Integer> q = new LinkedList<>();
q.push(10); // part 1
q.push(20);
q.push(30);
q.push(40);
q.push(50);
q.push(60);
System.out.println(q.front()); // Part 2
q.pop(); // Part 3
System.out.println(q.front()); // Part 3
System.out.println(q.size()); // Part 4
System.out.println(q.isEmpty()); // prints 1 for TRUE and 0 for
// FALSE(Part 4)

while(!q.isEmpty()) { // prints all the elements until the queue

// is empty (Part 5)
System.out.println(q.front());
q.pop();

22
 }
}
}

We get the following output:

10
20
5
0
20
30
40
50
60

23
Queues
Introduction
● Like stack, the queue is also an abstract data type.
● As the name suggests, in queue elements are inserted at one end while
deletion takes place at the other end.
● Queues are open at both ends, unlike stacks that are open at only one
end(the top).

Let us consider a queue at a movie ticket counter:

● Here, the person who comes first in the queue is served first with the ticket
while the new seekers of tickets are added back in the line.
● This order is known as F
​ irst In First Out (FIFO)​.
● In programming terminology, the operation to add an item to the queue is
called "enqueue", whereas removing an item from the queue is known as
"dequeue".

1
Working of A Queue

Queue operations work as follows:

1. Two pointers called F

​ RONT ​and ​REAR a
​ re used to keep track of the first and
last elements in the queue.
2. When initializing the queue, we set the value of FRONT and REAR to -1.
3. On ​enqueuing a
​ n element, we increase the value of the REAR index and
place the new element in the position pointed to by REAR.
4. On ​dequeuing a
​ n element, we return the value pointed to by FRONT and
increase the FRONT index.
5. Before enqueuing, we check if the queue is already full.
6. Before dequeuing, we check if the queue is already empty.
7. When enqueuing the first element, we set the value of FRONT to 0.
8. When dequeuing the last element, we reset the values of FRONT and REAR to
-1.

2
3
Applications of queue

● CPU Scheduling, Disk Scheduling.

● When data is transferred asynchronously between two processesQueue is
used for synchronization. eg: IO Buffers, pipes, file IO, etc.
● Handling of interrupts in real-time systems.
● Call Center phone systems use Queues to hold people in order of their
calling.

Implementation of A Queue Using Array

Queue contains majorly these five functions that we will be implementing:

● enqueue()​: Insertion of element

● dequeue()​: Deletion of element
● front()​: returns the element present in the front position
● getSize()​: returns the total number of elements present at current stage
● isEmpty()​: returns boolean value, TRUE for empty and FALSE for non-empty.

Now, let’s implement these functions in our program.

NOTE: ​We will be using templates in the implementation, so that it can be

generalised.

class QueueUsingArray ​<T> {

T data; ​ // to store data
int nextIndex; ​ // to store next index
int firstIndex; ​ // to store the first index
int size; ​ // to store the size
int capacity; ​ / to store the capacity it can hold
/

public​ ​QueueUsingArray​(int s) { ​// Constructor to initialize values

data = new T[s];
nextIndex = 0;
firstIndex = -1;

4
 size = 0;
capacity = s;
}

public​ int ​getSize​() { ​// Returns number of elements present

return ​size;
}

public ​bool ​isEmpty​() { ​// To check if queue is empty or not

return ​size == 0;
}

public​ void ​enqueue​(T element) { ​// Function for insertion

if​(size == capacity) { ​// To check if the queue is already full
System.out.println("Queue Full!");
return​;
}
data[nextIndex] = element; ​// Otherwise added a new element
nextIndex = (nextIndex + 1) % capacity ; ​// in cyclic way
if​(firstIndex == -1) { ​ // Suppose if queue was empty
firstIndex = 0;
}
size++; ​ // Finally, incremented the size
}

public​ T ​front​() { ​ // To return the element at front position

if​(isEmpty()) { ​ ​// To check if the queue was initially empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return ​0;
}
return ​data[firstIndex]; ​// otherwise returned the element
}

public​ T ​dequeue​() { ​ // Function for deletion

if​(isEmpty()) { ​ // To check if the queue was empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return ​0;
}
T ans = data[firstIndex];
firstIndex = (firstIndex + 1) % capacity;
size--; ​// Decrementing the size by 1
if(size == 0) { ​ // If queue becomes empty after deletion, then
firstIndex = -1; ​ // resetting the original parameters
nextIndex = 0;

5
 }
return ​ans;
}
}

Dynamic queue

In the dynamic queue. we will be preventing the condition where the queue
becomes full and we were not able to insert any further elements in that.

As we all know that when the queue is full it means the internal array that we are
using in the form of a queue has become full, we can resolve this problem by
creating a new array of double the size of the previous one and copy pasting the
elements of the previous array to the new one. Now this new array which has the
double size will be considered as our queue. We will do this in insert function when
we check for queue full (size==capacity), when this happens we will discard the
previous array and create a new array of double size, copy pasting all the elements
so that we don't lose the data. Let’s now check the implementation of the same.

Implementation is pretty similar to the static approach discussed above. A few

minor changes are there which could be followed with the help of comments in the
code below.

class QueueUsingArray ​<T> {

T data; ​ // to store data
int nextIndex; ​ // to store next index
int firstIndex; ​ // to store the first index
int size; ​ // to store the size
int capacity; ​ / to store the capacity it can hold
/

public​ ​QueueUsingArray​() { ​// Constructor to initialize values

data = new T[4];
nextIndex = 0;
firstIndex = -1;
size = 0;
capacity = 4;

6
 }

public​ int ​getSize​() { ​// Returns number of elements present

return ​size;
}

public ​boolean ​isEmpty​() { ​// To check if queue is empty or not

return ​size == 0;
}

public​ void ​enqueue​(T element) { ​// Function for insertion

if​(size == capacity) { ​// To check if the queue is already full
T *newData = new T[2 * capacity];​// we simply doubled the
​// capacity
int j = 0;
for​(int i=firstIndex; i<capacity; i++) {​// Now copied the
//Elements to new one
newData[j] = data[i];
j++;
}
for​(int i=0; i<firstIndex; i++) {​//Overcoming the initial
​// cyclic insertion by copying
// the elements linearly
newData[j] = data[i];
j++;
}
data = newData;
firstIndex = 0;
nextIndex = capacity;
capacity *= 2; ​// Updated here as well
}
data[nextIndex] = element; ​// Otherwise added a new element
nextIndex = (nextIndex + 1) % capacity ; ​// in cyclic way
if​(firstIndex == -1) { ​ // Suppose if queue was empty
firstIndex = 0;
}
size++; ​ // Finally, incremented the size
}

public​ T ​front​() { ​ // To return the element at front position

if​(isEmpty()) { ​ ​// To check if the queue was initially empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return ​0;
}

7
 return ​data[firstIndex]; ​// otherwise returned the element
}

public​ T ​dequeue​() { ​ // Function for deletion

if​(isEmpty()) { ​ // To check if the queue was empty
System.out.println("Queue is Empty!");
return ​0;
}
T ans = data[firstIndex];
firstIndex = (firstIndex + 1) % capacity;
size--; ​// Decrementing the size by 1
if(size == 0) { ​ // If queue becomes empty after deletion, then
firstIndex = -1; ​ // resetting the original parameters
nextIndex = 0;
}
return ​ans;
}
}

Queues using Generic LL

Given below is an i​mplementation of Queue using Linked List. This is similar to the
way we wrote the LL Implementation for a Stack:

​ ode <T> {
class N ​ // Node class for linked list, no change needed
T data;
Node<T> next;
Node(T data) {
this -> data = data;
next = NULL;
}
}

​ ueue <T> {
class Q
Node<T> head; ​ // for storing front of queue
Node<T> tail; ​// for storing tail of queue
int size; ​// number of elements in queue

public​ ​Queue​() { ​// Constructor to initialise head, tail to NULL

// and size to 0
}

public​ int ​getSize​() { ​// just return the size of linked list

8
 }

public​ boolean ​isEmpty​() { ​// just check if head is NULL or not

public​ void ​enqueue​(T element) { ​// Simply insert the new node
//at the tail of LL

public​ T ​front​() { ​// Returns the head pointer of LL.

// Be careful for the case when size is 0
}

public​ T ​dequeue​() { ​// moves the head pointer one position ahead
// and deletes the head pointer.
} ​ // Also decrease the size by 1
}

In-built Queue in Java

Java provides the in-built queue in it’s ​library w

​ hich can be used instead of
creating/writing a queue class each time. To use this queue, we need to use the
import following file:

​ ava.util.Queues;
import j
import j​ ava.util.LinkedList;

Key functions of this in-built queue:

● .push(element_value) :​ Used to insert the element in the queue

● .pop() ​: Used to delete the element from the queue
● .front() ​: Returns the element at front of the queue

9
 ● .size() :​ Returns the total number of elements present in the queue
● .isEmpty() :​ Returns TRUE if the queue is empty and vice versa

Let us now consider an example to implement queue using inbuilt library:

Problem Statement: ​Implement the following parts using queue:

1. Declare a queue of integers and insert the following elements in the same
order as mentioned: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.

2. Now tell the element that is present at the front position of the queue

3. Now delete an element from the front side of the queue and again tell the
element present at the front position of the queue.

4. Print the size of the queue and also tell if the queue is empty or not.

5. Now, print all the elements that are present in the queue.

​ ava.util.Queues;
import j
import j​ ava.util.LinkedList;

Class QueueTesting{
public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
​Queue<Integer> q = new LinkedList<>();
​ .push(10);
q ​// part 1
q.push(20);
q.push(30);
q.push(40);
q.push(50);
q.push(60);
System.out.println(q.front()); ​// Part 2
q.pop(); ​// Part 3
System.out.println(q.front()); ​// Part 3
System.out.println(q.size()); ​ // Part 4
System.out.println(q.isEmpty()); ​// prints 1 for TRUE and 0 for
// FALSE(Part 4)

​while​(!q.isEmpty()) { ​ / prints all the elements until the queue

/
// is empty (Part 5)
System.out.println(q.front());
q.pop();

10
 }
}
}

We get the following output:

10
20
5
0
20
30
40
50
60

11
Trees
Introduction
● In the previous modules, we discussed binary trees where each node can
have a maximum of two children and these can be represented easily with
two pointers i.e right child and left child.
● But suppose, we have a tree with many children for each node.
● If we do not know how many children a node can have, how do we represent
such a tree?
● For example​, consider the tree shown below.

1
Generic Tree Node
● Implementation of a generic tree node in Java is quite simple.
● The node class will contain two attributes:
○ The node​ data
○ Since there can be a variable number of children nodes, thus the
second attribute will be a list of its children nodes. Each child is an
instance of the same node class. This is a general n
​ -nary tree​.
● Consider the given implementation of the T
​ ree Node​ class:

class​ ​TreeNode <T>​{

T data;
ArrayList<​TreeNode<T>​> children;
​public ​GenericTreeNode​(data){
this.data = data ​//Node data
children = new ArrayList<>() ​//List of children nodes
}
}

Adding Nodes to a Generic Tree

We can add nodes to a generic tree by simply using the l​ ist.add()​ function, to add
children nodes to parent nodes. This is shown using the given example:

Suppose we have to construct the given Generic Tree:

2
Consider the given​ Java code:

// Create nodes
TreeNode<Integer> n1= TreeNode<>(​5​);
TreeNode<Integer> n2 =TreeNode<>(​2​);
TreeNode<Integer> n3 =TreeNode<>(​9​);
TreeNode<Integer> n4 =TreeNode<>(​8​);
TreeNode<Integer> n5 =TreeNode<>(​7​);
TreeNode<Integer> n6 =TreeNode<>(​15​);
TreeNode<Integer> n7 =TreeNode<>(​1​);

// Add children for node 5 (n1)

n1.children.add(n2);
n1.children.add(n3);
n1.children.add(n4);
n1.children.add(n5);

// Add children for node 9 (n3)

n3.children.add(n6);
n3.children.add(n7);

Print a Generic Tree (Recursively)

In order to print a given generic tree, we will recursively traverse the entire tree.
The steps shall be as follows:
● If the root is ​null​, i.e. the tree is an empty tree, then return​ null​.
● For every child node at a given node, we call the function recursively.
Go through the given Python code for better understanding:

public void ​printTree​(TreeNode root){

//Not a base case but an edge case
if​ (root == ​null)
return;

System.out.println(root.data); ​//Print current node's data

for​ (TreeNode child ​: ​root.children)
printTree(child); ​//Recursively call the function for children
}

3
Take Generic Tree Input (Recursively)
Go through the given Java code for better understanding:

public TreeNode ​takeTreeInput​(){

System.out.println(​"Enter root Data"​);
int rootData = s.nextInt(); ​//TAKE USER INPUT
if​ (rootData == ​-1​) ​//Stop taking inputs
return​ ​null;

TreeNode<Integer> root = TreeNode<>(rootData);

System.out.println(​"Enter number of children for "​+ rootData);

childrenCount = s.nextInt(); ​//Get input for no. of child nodes
while(​childrenCount > 0​){
TreeNode child = takeTreeInput(); ​//Input for all childs
root.children.add(child); ​//Add child
​childrenCount--;
​}
return​ root;
}

Take input level-wise

For taking input level-wise, we will use q

​ ueue data structure. ​Follow the
comments in the code below:

public TreeNode<Integer> ​takeTreeInputLevelwise​(){

System.out.println(​"Enter root Data"​);
int rootData = s.nextInt(); ​//TAKE USER INPUT
TreeNode<Integer> root = new TreeNode<int>(rootData);

Queue<TreeNode<Integer>> pendingNodes = new Queue<>();

pendingNodes.push(root); ​// Root data pushed into queue at first

while​(pendingNodes.size() != 0){ ​//Runs until the queue is not empty

TreeNode<Integer> front = pendingNodes.front(); ​ //stores front
pendingNodes.pop();​// deleted that front node stored previously
System.out.println(​"​Enter num of children of​ "+front.data);

4
 int numChild​ = s.nextInt()​;​// get the number of child nodes
for ​(int i=0; i<numChild; i++) { ​// iterated over each
//child node to input it
System.out.println(​"Enter "+i+"th child of "+front.data);
int childData = s.nextInt();
TreeNode<Integer> child = new TreeNode<>(childData);
front.children.add(child); ​//Each child node is pushed
//into the queue as well as the list of child
//nodes as it is taken input so that next
// time we can take its children as input while
//we kept moving in the level-wise fashion
pendingNodes.push(child);
}
}
return​ root; ​ ​// Finally returns the root node
}

Similarly, we can also print the child nodes using a queue itself. Now, try doing the
same yourselves and for solution refer to the solution tab of the respective
question.

Count total nodes in a tree

To count the total number of nodes in the tree, we will just traverse the tree
recursively starting from the root node until we reach the leaf node by iterating
over the vector of child nodes. As the size of the child nodes vector becomes 0, we
will simply return. Kindly check the code below:

public void ​numNodes​(TreeNode<Integer> root){

if​(root == ​null​) { ​// Edge case
return 0;
}
int ans = 1; ​// To store total count
for ​(int i = 0; i < root.children.size(); i++) {
ans += numNodes(root.children[i]); ​// recursively storing count
// of children’s children nodes.
}

5
 return ​ans; ​// ultimately returning the final answer
}

Height of the tree

Height of a tree is defined as the length of the path from the tree’s root node to any
of its leaf nodes. Just think what should be the height of a tree with just one node?
Well, there are a couple of conventions; we can define the height of a tree with just
one node to be either 1 or zero. We will be following the convention where the
height of a null tree is zero and that with only one node is one. This has been left
as an exercise for you, if need be you may follow the code provided in the solution
tab of the topic corresponding to the same question.

Approach: ​Consider the height of the root node as 1 instead of 0. Now, traverse
each child of the root node and recursively traverse over each one of them also and
the one with the maximum height is added to the final answer along by adding 1
(this 1 is for the current node itself).

Depth of a node

Depth of a node is defined as it’s distance from the root node. For example, the
depth of the root node is 0, depth of a node directly connected to root node is 1
and so on. Now we will write the code to find the same… (Below is the pictorial
representation of the depth of a node)

6
If you observe carefully, then the depth of the node is just equal to the level in
which it resides. We have already figured out how to calculate the level of any
node,using a similar approach we will find the depth of the node as well. Suppose,
we want to find all the nodes at level 3, then from the root node we will tell its
children to find the node that is at level 3 - 1 = 2, and similarly keep this up
recursively until we reach the depth = 0. Look at the code below for better
understanding…

public void ​printAtLevelK​(TreeNode<Integer> root, int k){

if​(root == null) { ​ // Edge case
​return​;
}

​if​(k == 0) { ​ // Base case: when the depth is 0

System.out.println(root.data);
​return​;
}

​for​(int i=0; i<root.children.size(); i++) { /

​ / Iterating over each
//child and
printAtLevelK(root.children[i], k - 1); ​// recursively calling
//with with 1 depth less
}
}

7
Count Leaf nodes

To count the number of leaves, we can simply traverse the nodes recursively until
we reach the leaf nodes (the size of the children vector becomes zero). Following
recursion, this is very similar to finding the height of the tree. Try to code it yourself
and for the solution refer to the solution tab of the same.

Traversals

Traversing the tree is the manner in which we move on the tree in order to access
all its nodes. There are generally 4 types of traversals in a tree:

● Level order traversal

● Preorder traversal
● Inorder traversal
● Postorder traversal

We have already discussed level order traversal. Now let’s discuss the other
traversals.

In Preorder traversal, we visit the current node first(starting with root) and then
traverse the left sub-tree. After covering all nodes there, we will move towards the
right subtree and visit in a similar manner.​ Refer the code below:

public void ​preorder​(TreeNode<Integer> root){

if​(root == null) {
​return​;
}
System.out.println(root.data);
​for​(int i = 0; i < root.children.size(); i++) {
preorder(root.children[i]);
}
}

8
Binary Trees
What is A Tree?
● A tree is a data structure similar to a linked list but instead of each node
pointing simply to the next node in a linear fashion, each node points to
several nodes.
● A tree is an example of a non- linear data structure.
● A tree structure is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a
structure in a graphical form.

Terminology Of Trees

● The root of a tree is the node with no parents. There can be at most one root
node in a tree (​ node A in the above example)​.
● An​ edge​ refers to the link from a parent to a child (​ all links in the figure)​.
● A node with no children is called a ​leaf node​ ​(E, J, K, H, and I)​.
● The children nodes of the same parent are called ​siblings​ (​ B, C, D are
siblings of parent A, and E, F are siblings of parent B)​.

1
 ● The set of all nodes at a given depth is called the l​ evel​ of the tree (​ B, C, and
D are the same level)​. The root node is at level zero.
● The​ depth​ of a node is the length of the path from the root to the node
(depth of G is 2, A
​ -> C –> G​)​.
● The ​height​ of a node is the length of the path from that node to the deepest
node.
● The ​height​ of a tree is the length of the path from the root to the deepest
node in the tree.
● A (rooted) tree with only one node (the root) has a height of zero.

Binary Trees
● A generic tree with at most two child nodes for each parent node is known as
a binary tree.
● A binary tree is made of nodes that constitute a l​ eft​ pointer, a r​ ight ​pointer,
and a data element. The ​root p
​ ointer is the topmost node in the tree.
● The left and right pointers recursively point to smaller ​subtrees​ on either
side.
● An empty tree is also a valid binary tree.
● A formal definition is:​ A b
​ inary tree i​ s either empty (represented by a null
pointer), or is made of a single node, where the left and right pointers
(recursive definition ahead) each point to a b
​ inary tree​.

2
Types of binary trees:

Full binary trees:​ A

​ binary tree in which every node has 0 or 2 children is
termed as a full binary tree.

3
Complete binary tree:​ A
​ complete binary tree has all the levels filled except for
the last level, which has all its nodes as much as to the left.

Perfect binary tree:​ ​A binary tree is termed perfect when all its internal nodes
have two children along with the leaf nodes that are at the same level.

A degenerate tree:​ I​ n a degenerate tree, each internal node has only one child.

The tree shown above is degenerate. These trees are very similar to linked-lists.

4
Balanced binary tree:​ ​A binary tree in which the difference between the depth
of the two subtrees of every node is at most one is called a balanced binary tree​.

Binary tree representation:

Binary trees can be represented in two ways:

Sequential representation
● This is the most straightforward technique to store a tree data structure. An
array is used to store the tree nodes.
● The number of nodes in a tree defines the size of the array.
● The root node of the tree is held at the first index in the array.
● In general, if a node is stored at the ​ith​
​ location, then its ​left​ and ​right​ child
are kept at ​(2i)​th​ a
​ nd​ (2i+1)​th​ l​ ocations in the array, respectively.

Consider the following binary tree:

5
The array representation of the above binary tree is as follows:

As discussed above, we see that the left and right child of each node is stored at
locations 2
​ *(nodePosition)​ and ​2*(nodePosition)+1​, respectively.

For Example,​ The location of node 3 in the array is 3. So its left child will be placed
at​ 2*3 = 6​. Its right child will be at the location 2
​ *3 +1 = 7​. As we can see in the
array, children of 3, which are 6 and 7, are placed at locations 6 and 7 in the array.

Note:​ The sequential representation of the tree is not preferred due to the massive
amount of memory consumption by the array.

Linked list representation:

6
In this type of model, a linked list is used to store the tree nodes. The nodes are
connected using the parent-child relationship like a tree. The following diagram
shows a linked list representation for a tree.

As shown in the above representation, each linked list node has three components:

● Pointer to the left child

● Data
● Pointer to the right child
Note:​ If there are no children for a given node (leaf node), then the left and right
pointers for that node are set to ​null​.
Let’s now check the implementation of the B
​ inary tree class​.

class ​BinaryTreeNode<T> {
T data; ​// To store data
BinaryTreeNode left; ​// for storing the reference to left pointer
BinaryTreeNode right; ​// for storing the reference to right pointer
​// Constructor
BinaryTreeNode​(T data) {
this.data = data; ​// Initializes data of the node

7
 this.left = null;​// initializes left and right pointers to null
this.right = null;
}
}

Operations on Binary Trees

Basic Operations
● Inserting an element into a tree
● Deleting an element from a tree
● Searching for an element
● Traversing the tree
Auxiliary Operations
● Finding the size of the tree
● Finding the height of the tree
● Finding the level which has the maximum sum and many more...

Print Tree Recursively

Let’s first write a program to print a binary tree recursively. Follow the comments in
the code below:

public void ​printTree​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == null) { ​// Base case
return​;
}
System.out.print(root.data + ”:”); ​//printing the data at root node
if ​(root.left != null) { ​// checking if left not null
System.out.print("L" + root.left.data);
}

if ​(root.right != null) { ​// checking if right not null

System.out.print("R" + root.right.data);
}
System.out.println();
printTree(root.left);​//Now recursively, call left and right subtrees
printTree(root.right);
}

8
Input Binary Tree
We will be following the level-wise order for taking input and -1 denotes the n
​ ull
pointer.

public BinaryTreeNode<Integer> ​takeInput​() {

System.out.print(”Enter data:”);
int rootData = s.nextInt(); ​ // taking data as input
if ​(rootData == -1) { ​// if the data is -1, means null pointer
return ​null;
}
​// Dynamically create root Node which calls constructor of the same class
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root = new BinaryTreeNode<>(rootData);
​// Recursively calling over left subtree
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> leftChild = takeInput();
​// Recursively calling over right subtree
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> rightChild = takeInput();
root.left = leftChild; ​// now allotting left and right childs to root
root.right = rightChild;
return ​root;
}

Count nodes
● Unlike the Generic trees, where we need to traverse the children vector of
each node, in binary trees, we just have at most left and right children for
each node.
● Here, we just need to recursively call on the right and left subtrees
independently with the condition that the node pointer is not null.
● Follow the comments in the upcoming code for better understanding:

public int ​numNodes​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == null) { ​// Condition to check if the node is not null
return ​0; ​// counted as zero if so
}
return ​1 + numNodes(root.left) + numNodes(root.right);
//recursive calls on left and right subtrees with addition of 1(for
//counting current node)
}

9
Binary tree traversal
Following are the ways to traverse a binary tree and their orders of traversal:
● Preorder traversal :​ ROOT -> LEFT -> RIGHT
● Postorder traversal​ : LEFT -> RIGHT-> ROOT
● Inorder traversal ​: LEFT -> ROOT -> RIGHT
Some examples of the above-stated traversal methods:

❖ Preorder traversal: ​1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6, 7

❖ Postorder traversal: ​ 4, 5, 2, 6, 7, 3, 1
❖ Inorder traversal: ​ 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3, 7

Let’s look at the code for inorder traversal, below:

public void ​inorder​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == null) { ​// Base case when node’s value is null
return​;
}
inorder(root.left); ​//Recursive call over left part as it needs
// to be printed first
System.out.print(root.data); ​// Now printed root’s data
inorder(root.right); ​//Finally recursive call made over right subtree
}

Now, from this inorder traversal code, try to code preorder and postorder traversal
yourselves. If you get stuck, refer to the solution tab for the same.

10
Node with the Largest Data
In a Binary Tree, we must visit every node to figure out the maximum. So the idea is
to traverse the given tree and for every node return the maximum of 3 values:
● Node’s data.
● Maximum in node’s left subtree.
● Maximum in node’s right subtree.

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

public static int ​findMaximum​(root){

​# Base case
​if​ (root == ​null​):
​return​ Integer.MAX_VALUE;

​// Return maximum of 3 values:

​// 1) Root's data
// 2) Max in Left Subtree
​ // 3) Max in right subtree
int max = root.data;
int lmax = findMaximum(root.left); ​//Maximum of left subtree
int rmax = findMaximum(root.right); ​//Maximum of right subtree
​if​ (lmax > max)
max = lmax;
​if​ (rmax > max)
max = rmax;
​return​ max;
}

11
Construct a binary tree from preorder and inorder
traversal

Consider the following example to understand this better.

Input:

Inorder traversal : ​{4, 2, 1, 7, 5, 8, 3, 6}

Preorder traversal : ​{1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 6}

Output:​ Below binary tree…

The idea is to start with the root node, which would be the first item in the preorder
sequence and find the boundary of its left and right subtree in the inorder array.
Now all keys before the root node in the inorder array become part of the left

12
subtree, and all the indices after the root node become part of the right subtree.
We repeat this recursively for all nodes in the tree and construct the tree in the
process.

To illustrate, consider below inorder and preorder sequence-

Inorder: ​{4, 2, 1, 7, 5, 8, 3, 6}

Preorder: {​ 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 6}

The root will be the first element in the preorder sequence, i.e. 1. Next, we locate
the index of the root node in the inorder sequence. Since 1 is the root node, all
nodes before 1 must be included in the left subtree, i.e., {4, 2}, and all the nodes
after one must be included in the right subtree, i.e. {7, 5, 8, 3, 6}. Now the problem
is reduced to building the left and right subtrees and linking them to the root node.

Left subtree: Right subtree:

Inorder : {​ 4, 2} Inorder : {​ 7, 5, 8, 3, 6}

Preorder : {​ 2, 4} Preorder : {​ 3, 5, 7, 8, 6}

Using the above explanation you can easily create logic and code this. Refer
solution tab for solution code for this problem.

Now, try to construct the binary tree when inorder and postorder traversals are
given…

13
The diameter of a binary tree

The diameter of a tree (sometimes called the width) is the number of nodes on the
longest path between two child nodes. The diameter of the binary tree may pass
through the root (not necessary).

For example, the Below figure shows two binary trees having diameters 6 and 5,
respectively (nodes highlighted in blue color). The diameter of the binary tree
shown on the left side passes through the root node while on the right side, it
doesn't.

There are three possible paths of the diameter:

1. The diameter could be the sum of the left height and the right height.
2. It could be the left subtree’s diameter.
3. It could be the right subtree’s diameter.

We will pick the one with the maximum value.

14
Now let’s check the code for this...

public int ​height​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {​//Func for height of tree

if ​(root == null) {
return 0;
}
return ​1 + Math.max(height(root.left), height(root.right));
}

public int ​diameter​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {​//calculates diameter

if ​(root == null) { ​// Base case
return 0;
}

int option1 = height(root.left) + height(root.right); ​// Option 1

int option2 = diameter(root.left); ​// Option 2
int option3 = diameter(root->right); ​// Option 3
return ​Math.max(option1, Math.max(option2, option3)); ​//returns max
}

The time complexity for the above approach:

● Height function traverses each node once; hence time complexity will be
O(n).
● Option2 and Option3 also traverse on each node, but for each node, we are
calculating the height of the tree considering that node as the root node,
which makes time complexity equal to O(n*h). (worst case with skewed trees,
i.e., a
​ type of binary tree in which all the nodes have only either one child or
no child.​) Here, h is the height of the tree, which could be O(n​2​).

This could be reduced if the height and diameter are obtained simultaneously,
which could prevent extra n traversals for each node. To achieve this, move
towards the other sections…

15
The Diameter of a Binary tree: Better Approach

In the previous approach, for each node, we were finding the height and diameter
independently, which was increasing the time complexity. In this approach, we will
find height and diameter for each node at the same time, i.e., we will store the
height and diameter using a pair class where the ​first p
​ ointer will be storing the
height of that node and the ​second​ pointer will be storing the diameter. Here, also
we will be using recursion.

Let’s focus on the b

​ ase case​: For a null tree, height and diameter both are equal to
0. Hence, pair class will store both of its values as zero.

Now, moving to H
​ ypothesis​: We will get the height and diameter for both left and
right subtrees, which could be directly used.

Finally, the i​ nduction step​: Using the result of the Hypothesis, we will find the
height and diameter of the current node:

Height ​ = max(leftHeight, rightHeight)

Diameter =
​ max(leftHeight + rightHeight, leftDiameter, rightDiameter)

Now we will create a Pair class which will help us do this problem in better
complexity.

class ​Pair ​{
int first;
int second;
public Pair(int first, int second){
this.first = first;
this.second = second;
}
}

16
To access this pair class, we will use ​.first​ and ​.second ​pointers.

Follow the code below along with the comments to get a better grip on it...

public static Pair ​heightDiameter​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

// pair class return-type function
if ​(root == null) { ​// Base case
Pair p = new Pair(0, 0);
// p.first = 0;
// p.second = 0;
return ​p;
}
​// Recursive calls over left and right subtree
Pair leftAns = heightDiameter(root.left);
Pair rightAns = heightDiameter(root.right);
​// Hypothesis step
​// Left diameter, Left height
int ld = leftAns.second;
int lh = leftAns.first;
​// Right diameter, Right height
int rd = rightAns.second;
int rh = rightAns.first;

​// Induction step

int height = 1 + Math.max(lh, rh); ​// height of current root node
int diameter = Math.max(lh + rh, Math.max(ld, rd));​//diameter of
// current root node
Pair p; ​// Pair class for current root node
p.first = height;
p.second = diameter;
return ​p;
}

Now, talking about the time complexity of this method, it can be observed that we
are just traversing each node once while making recursive calls and rest all other
operations are performed in constant time, hence the time complexity of this
program is O(n), where n is the number of nodes.

17
Binary Search Trees
Introduction
● These are the specific types of binary trees.
● These are inspired by the binary search algorithm.
● Time complexity on insertion, deletion, and searching reduces significantly as
it works on the principle of binary search rather than linear search, as in the
case of normal binary trees (will discuss it further).

Binary Search Tree Property

In binary search trees, all the left subtree elements should be less than root data
and all the right subtree elements should be greater than root data. This is called
Binary Search Tree property​.
● The left subtree of a node ONLY contains nodes with keys less than the
node’s key.
● The right subtree of a node ONLY contains nodes with keys greater than the
node’s key.
● Both the left and right subtrees must also be binary search trees.
Note:​ The ​BST​ property should be satisfied at every node in the tree.

1
Example:​ ​The left tree is a binary search tree and the right tree is not a binary
search tree ​(This because the BST property is not satisfied at node 6. Its child with key 2,
is less than its parent with key 3, which is a violation, as all the nodes on the right
subtree of root node 3, must have keys greater than or equal to 3)​.

Store Data in BST

Example​: ​Insert {​45, 68, 35, 42, 15, 64, 78​} in a BST in the order they are given.

Solution: ​Follow the steps below:

1. Since the tree is empty, so the first node will automatically be the root node.

2. Now, we have to insert 68, which is greater than 45, so it will go on the right
side of the root node.

2
 3. To insert 35, we will start from the root node. Since 35 is smaller than 45, it
will be inserted on the left side.

4. Moving on to inserting 42. We can see that 42 < 45, so it will be placed on the
left side of the root node. Now, we will check the same on the left subtree.
We can see that 42 > 35 means 42 will be the right child of 35, which is still a
part of the left subtree of the root node.

3
 5. Now, to insert 15, we will follow the same approach starting from the root
node. Here, 15 < 45, which means 15 will be a part of the left subtree. As 15 <
35, we will continue to move towards the left. As the left subtree of 35 is
empty, so 15 will be the left child of 35.

6. Continuing further, to insert 64, we know that 64 > root node’s data, but less
than 68, hence 64 will be the left child of 68.

7. Finally, we have to insert 78. We can see that 78 > 45 and 78 > 68, so 78 will
be the right child of 68.

4
In this way, the data is stored in a BST.

Note:
● If we follow the i​ norder traversal​ of the final BST, we will get the sorted
array.
● As seen above, to insert an element in the BST, we will be traversing till either
the left subtree’s leaf node or right subtree’s leaf node, in the worst-case
scenario.
● Hence, the t​ ime complexity of insertion f​ or each node is O
​ (log(H))​ (where
H​ is the height of the tree).
● For inserting ​N​ nodes, complexity will be​ O(N*log(H))​.

Problem Statement: Search in BST

Given a BST and a target value(x), we have to return the binary tree node
with data x if it is present in the BST; otherwise, return NULL.

Approach: ​As the given tree is BST, we can use the ​binary search algorithm​. Using
recursion will make it easier.

Base Case:
● If the tree is empty, it means that the root node is NULL, then we will simply
return NULL as the node is not present.
● Suppose if root’s data is equal to x
​ ​, we don’t need to traverse forward in this
tree as the target value has been found out, so we will simply return the r​ oot
from here.

Small Calculation:
● In the case of BST, we’ll only check for the condition of binary search, i.e., if x
is greater than the root’s data, then we will make a recursive call over the
right subtree; otherwise, the recursive call will be made on the left subtree.

5
 ● This way, we are entirely discarding half the tree to be searched as done in
case of a binary search. Therefore, the time complexity of searching is
O(log(H))​ (where H is the height of BST).

Recursive call: A
​ fter figuring out which way to move, we can make recursive calls
on either left or right subtree. This way, we will be able to search the given element
in a BST.

Note:​ The code written from the above insights can be accessed in the solution tab
in the question itself.

Problem Statement: Print elements in a range

Given a BST and a range (L, R), we need to figure out all the elements of BST
that are present in the given range inclusive of L and R.

Approach: ​We will be using recursion and binary searching for the same.

Base case:​ If the root is NULL, it means we don’t have any tree to check upon, and
we can simply return.

Small Calculation: T
​ here are three conditions to be checked upon:
● If the root’s data lies in the given range, then we can print it.
● We will compare the root’s data with the given range’s maximum. If root’s
data is smaller than R, then we will have to traverse only the right subtree.
● Now, we will compare the root’s data with the given range’s minimum. If the
root’s data is greater than L, then we will traverse only the left subtree.

Recursive call: R
​ ecursive call will be made as per the small calculation part onto
the left and right subtrees. In this way, we will be able to figure out all the elements
in the range.
Note: T
​ ry to code this yourself, and refer to the solution tab in case of any doubts.

6
Problem Statement: Check BST
Given a binary tree, we have to check if it is a BST or not.

Approach: ​We will simply traverse the binary tree and check if the nodes satisfy the
BST Property. Thus we will check the following cases:
● If the node’s value is greater than the value of the node on it’s left.
● If the node’s value is smaller than the value of the node on its right.

Important Case​: D
​ on’t just compare the direct left and right children of the node;
instead, we need to compare every node in the left and right subtree with the
node’s value. Consider the following case:

● Here, it can be seen that for root, the left subtree is a BST, and the right
subtree is also a BST (individually).
● But the complete tree is not a BST. This is because a node with value 5 lies on
the right side of the root node with value 20, whereas it should be on the left
side of the root node.
● Hence, even though the individual subtrees are BSTs, it is also possible that
the complete binary tree is not a BST. Hence, this third condition must also
be checked.
To check over this condition, we will keep track of the minimum and maximum
values of the right and left subtrees correspondingly, and at last, we will simply
compare them with root.

7
 ● The left subtree’s maximum value should be less than the root’s data.
● The right subtree’s minimum value should be greater than the root’s data.

Now, let’s look at the Python code for this approach using this approach.

public int ​maximum​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == NULL) { ​// If root is NULL, then we simply return
return ​Integer.MIN_VALUE; ​ negative infinity)
​// -​∞ (
}
​// Otherwise returning maximum of left/right subtree and root’s data
int left = maximum(root.left);
int right= maximum(root.right);
return ​Math.max(root.data, Math.max(left, right));
}

public int ​minimum​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == NULL) { ​ // If root is NULL, then we simply return
return ​Integer.MAX_VALUE; ​ positive infinity)
​// +​∞ (
}
​// Otherwise returning minimum of left/right subtree and root’s data
int left = maximum(root.left);
int right= maximum(root.right);
return ​Math.min(root.data, Math.min(left, right));
}

public bool ​isBST​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == NULL) { ​// Base case
return ​true;
}

int leftMax = maximum(root.left); ​// Figuring out left’s maximum

int rightMin = minimum(root.right); ​// Figuring out right’s minimum
bool output = (root.data > leftMax) && (root.data <= rightMin) &&
isBST(root.left) && isBST(root.right);
//Checked the conditions discussed above
​return ​output;
}

Time Complexity:​ In the ​isBST()​ function, we are traversing each node, and for
each node, we are then calculating the minimum and maximum value by again

8
traversing that complete subtree’s height. Hence, if there are ​N​ nodes in total and
the height of the tree is ​H,​ then the time complexity will be O
​ (N*H)​.

Improved Solution for Check BST

● To improve our solution, observe that for each node, the minimum and
maximum values are being calculated separately.
● We now wish to calculate these values, while checking the​ isBST​ condition
itself, to get rid of another cycle of iterations.
● We will follow a similar approach as that of the diameter calculation of binary
trees.
● At each stage, we will return the maximum value, minimum value, and the
BST status (True/False) for each node of the tree, in the form of a tuple.
Let’s look at its implementation now:

class IsBSTReturn { ​// Class to store data for each node of tree
bool isBST;
int minimum;
int maximum;
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

public IsBSTReturn ​isBST2​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {

if ​(root == NULL) { ​// Base Case
IsBSTReturn output = new IsBSTReturn(); ​//Object created
output.isBST = true; ​// Empty tree is a BST
output.minimum = INT_MAX;
output.maximum = INT_MIN;
return ​output;
}
IsBSTReturn leftOutput = isBST2(root.left);​// Left subtree Recursion
IsBSTReturn rightOutput = isBST2(root.right); ​//Right subtree
//Recursive call

// Small Calculation
// Minimum and maximum values figured out side-by-side preventing
//extra traversals
int minimum = Math.min(root.data, Math.min(leftOutput.minimum,
rightOutput.minimum));
int maximum = max(root.data, max(leftOutput.maximum,
rightOutput.maximum));

9
 ​// Checking out for the subtree if it’s a BST or not
bool isBSTFinal = (root.data > leftOutput.maximum) && (root.data <=
rightOutput.minimum) && leftOutput.isBST &&
rightOutput.isBST;

​// Assigning values to the output class object

IsBSTReturn output;
output.minimum = minimum;
output.maximum = maximum;
output.isBST = isBSTFinal;
​return​ output;
}

Time Complexity: ​Here, we are going to each node and doing a constant amount
of work. Hence, the time complexity for ​N n
​ odes will be of O
​ (N)​.

Another Improved Solution for Check BST

The time complexity for this problem can’t be improved further, but there is a
better approach to this problem, which makes our code look more robust. Let’s
discuss that approach now.

Approach: ​We will be checking on the left subtree, right subtree, and combined
tree without returning a tuple of maximum and minimum values. We will be using
the concept of default arguments over here. Check the code below:

// This time function is using default arguments for storing minimum and
// maximum value for each node
private bool ​isBST3Helper​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root, int min, int max) {
if ​(root == NULL) { ​// Base case: Empty tree
return true;
}
// checking out the special condition first and returning false if not
satisfied
if ​(root->data < min || root->data > max) {
return false;
}
// Checking out left and right subtrees
bool isLeftOk = isBST3(root.left, min, root.data - 1);
bool isRightOk = isBST3(root.right, root.data, max);
// Returning ​true​ if both are BST and ​false​ otherwise.
return ​isLeftOk && isRightOk;
}

10
public bool ​isBST3​(BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root) {
return ​isBST3Helper(root, Integer.MIN_VALUE, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
}

Time Complexity: ​Here also, we are just traversing each node and doing constant
work on each of them; hence time complexity remains the same, i.e. O
​ (n)​.

Problem Statement: Construct BST from sorted array

Given a sorted array, we have to construct a BST out of it.

Approach:
● Suppose we take the first element as the root node, then the tree will be
skewed as the array is sorted.
● To get a balanced tree (so that searching and other operations can be
performed in​ O(log(n))​ time), we will be using the binary search technique.
● Figure out the middle element and mark it as the root.
● This is done so that the tree can be divided into almost 2 equal parts, as half
the elements which will be greater than the root, will form the right subtree
(These elements are present to its right).
● The elements in the other half, which are less than the root, will form the left
subtree (These elements are present to its left).
● Just put root’s left child to be the recursive call made on the left portion of
the array and root’s right child to be the recursive call made on the right
portion of the array.
● Try it yourself and refer to the solution tab for code.

11
BST to Sorted LL

Problem statement: ​Given a BST, we have to construct a sorted linked list out of it.

Approach: ​As discussed earlier, the inorder traversal of the BST, provides elements
in a sorted fashion, so while creating the linked list, we will be traversing the tree in
inorder style.

● Base case: I​ f the root is NULL, it means the head of the linked list is NULL;
hence we return NULL.
● Small calculation: ​Left subtree will provide us the head of LL, and the right
subtree will provide the tail of LL; hence root node will be placed after the LL
obtained from the left subtree and right LL will be connected after the root.

Left subtree’s LL Root Right subtree’s LL

● Recursive call: S
​ imply call the left subtree, connect the root node to the end
of it, and then connect the right subtree’s recursive call after root.

Try it yourselves, and for code, refer to the solution tab of the corresponding
question.

Root to node path in a Binary Tree

Problem statement: ​Given a Binary tree, we have to return the path of the root
node to the given node.

For Example: R
​ efer to the image below...

12
Approach:

1. Start from the root node and compare it with the target value. If matched,
then simply return, otherwise, recursively call over left and right subtrees.
2. Continue this process until the target node is found and return if found.
3. While returning, you need to store all the nodes that you have traversed on
the path from the root to the target node in a vector.
4. Now, in the end, you will be having your solution vector.

Now try to create logic and code the same problem with BST instead of a binary
tree.

BST Class

Here, we will be creating our own BST class to perform operations like insertion,
deletion, etc…

Kindly, follow the code below:

13
 ​ ST ​{
class B
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> root; ​// root node

BST​() { ​// Constructor to initialize root to NULL

root = null;
}

public bool ​hasData​(int data, BinaryTreeNode<Integer> node) {

if ​(node == NULL) { ​// the presence of a
return false; ​// node in BST
}

if ​(node->data == data) {
return ​true;
} ​else if ​(data < node->data) {
return ​hasData(data, node->left);
} ​else ​{
return ​hasData(data, node->right);
}
}

public bool ​hasData​(int data) {

return ​hasData(data, root); ​// from here the value is returned
}
}

You can observe that hasData() function has been declared under the private
section to prevent it from being manipulated, presenting the concept of data
abstraction.

Try insertion and deletion on your own, and in case of any difficulty, refer to the
hints and solution code below…

Insertion in BST:

We are given the root of the tree and the data to be inserted. Follow the same
approach to insert the data as discussed above using Binary search algorithm.
Check the code below for insertion:

14
public BinaryTreeNode<Integer> ​insert​(int data, ​BinaryTreeNode<Integer>​ node){
​// Using Binary Search algorithm
if ​(node == null) {
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> newNode = new BinaryTreeNode<>(data);
return ​newNode;
}

if ​(data < node.data) {

node.left = insert(data, node.left);
} ​else ​{
node.right = insert(data, node.right);
}
return ​node;
}

public void ​insert​(int data) { ​// Insertion function

this.root = insert(data, this.root);
}

Deletion in BST:

Recursively, find the node to be deleted.

● Case 1: I​ f the node to be deleted is the leaf node, then simply delete that
node with no further changes and return NULL.
● Case 2:​ If the node to be deleted has only one child, then delete that node
and return the child node.
● Case 3: ​If the node to be deleted has both the child nodes, then we have to
delete the node such that the properties of BST remain unchanged. For this,
we will replace the node’s data with either the left child’s largest node or right
child’s smallest node and then simply delete the replaced node.

Now, let’s look at the code below:

BinaryTreeNode<Integer> ​deleteData​(int data, BinaryTreeNode<Integer> node){

if ​(node == NULL) { ​// Base case
return ​NULL;
}
​// Finding that node by traversing the tree

15
 if ​(data > node.data) {
node.right = deleteData(data, node.right);
return ​node;
} ​else if​ (data < node.data) {
node.left = deleteData(data, node.left);
return ​node;
} ​else ​{ ​//found the node
if ​(node.left == NULL && node.right == NULL) { ​//Leaf node
delete node;
return ​NULL;
} ​else if ​(node.left == NULL) { ​//node having only left child
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> temp = node.right;
node.right = NULL;
delete node;
return ​temp;
} ​else if ​(node.right == NULL) {​//node having only right child
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> temp = node.left;
node.left = NULL;
delete node;
return ​temp;
} ​else ​{ ​//node having both the childs
BinaryTreeNode<Integer> minNode = node.right;
while ​(minNode.left != NULL) { ​// replacing node with
minNode = minNode.left; ​// right subtree’s min
}
int rightMin = minNode.data;
node.data = rightMin;
​// now simply deleting that replaced node using recursion
node.right = deleteData(rightMin, node.right);
return ​node;
}
}
}

public void ​deleteData​(int data) { ​// Function to delete

root = deleteData(data, root);
}

16
Hashmaps
Introduction to Hashmaps

Suppose we are given a string or a character array and asked to find the maximum
occurring character. It could be quickly done using arrays. We can simply create an
array of size 256, initialize this array to zero, and then, simply traverse the array to
increase the count of each character against its ASCII value in the frequency array.
In this way, we will be able to figure out the maximum occurring character in the
given string.

The above method will work fine for all the 256 characters whose ASCII values are
known. But what if we want to store the maximum frequency string out of a given
array of strings? It can’t be done using a simple frequency array, as the strings do
not possess any specific identification value like the ASCII values. For this, we will be
using a different data structure called hashmaps.

In hashmaps, the data is stored in the form of keys against which some value is
assigned. Keys and values don’t need to be of the same data type.

If we consider the above example in which we were trying to find the maximum
occurring string, using hashmaps, the individual strings will be regarded as keys,
and the value stored against them will be considered as their respective frequency.

For example: T
​ he given string array is:

str[] = {“abc”, “def”, “ab”, “abc”, “def”, “abc”}

Hashmap will look like as follows:

1
 Key (datatype Value
= string) (datatype =
int)

“abc” 3

“def” 2

“ab” 1

From here, we can directly check for the frequency of each string and hence figure
out the most frequent string among them all.

Note:​ O
​ ne more limitation of arrays is that the indices could only be whole numbers but
this limitation does not hold for hashmaps.

The values are stored corresponding to their respective keys and can be invoked
using these keys. To insert, we can do the following:

● hashmap.put(key, value)

The functions that are required for the hashmaps are(using templates):

● insert(k key, v value): ​To insert the value of type v against the key of type k.
● get(k key): ​To get the value stored against the key of type k.
● remove(k key): ​To delete the key of type k, and hence the value
corresponding to it.

To implement the hashmaps, we can use the following data structures:

1. Linked Lists: ​To perform insertion, deletion, and search operations in the
linked list, the time complexity will be O(n) for each as:
○ For insertion, we will first have to check if the key already exists or not,
if it exists, then we just have to update the value stored corresponding
to that key.
○ For search and deletion, we will be traversing the length of the linked
list.

2
 2. BST: ​We will be using some kind of a balanced BST so that the height remains
of the order O(logN). For using a BST, we will need some sort of comparison
between the keys. In the case of strings, we can do the same. Hence,
insertion, search, and deletion operations are directly proportional to the
height of the BST. Thus the time complexity reduces to O(logN) for each.
3. Hash table: U
​ sing a hash table, the time complexity of insertion, deletion,
and search operations, could be improved to O(1) (same as that of arrays).
We will study this in further sections.

Inbuilt Hashmap

In Java, we have two types of hashmaps:

● Treemap​ (uses BST implementation)

● Hashmap (​ uses hash table implementation)

Note: B
​ oth have similar functions and similar ways to use, differing only in the time
complexities. The time complexity of each of the operations(insertion, deletion, and
searching) in the T
​ reemap ​is O(logN), while in the case of H
​ ashmap​, they are O(1).

Hashmap:

● Import hashmap library

import ​java.util.HashMap;
● Syntax to declare:

HashMap​<​datatype_for_keys, datatype_for_values​> name;

● Operations performed:
1. Insertion: S
​ uppose, we want to insert the string “abc” with the value 1
in the hashmap named o
​ urmap​, there are two ways to do so:
■ Simply create a pair of both and insert in the map using .​insert
function. Syntax:

HashMap<String, Integer> ourmap = new HashMap<>();

3
 ourmap.put(“abc”, 1);

2. Searching: ​Suppose we want to find the value stored in the hashmap

against key ​“abc”​, there are two ways to do so:
○ As did in insertion like arrays, the same way we can figure out
the value stored against the corresponding key. Syntax:

int value = ourmap.get(“abc”);

Note: I​ f we try to access a key that is not present in the unordered_map, then there
are two different outcomes:

➢ If we are accessing the value using .get() function, then we will get an error
specifying that we are trying to access the value that is not present in the
map.

But what if we want to check if the key is present or not on the map? For that, we
will be using the .count() function, which tells if the key is present in the map or not.
It returns false, if not present, and true, if present

Syntax:

boolean isPresent = ourmap.containsKey(“ghi”);

Note: W
​ e can also check the size of the map by using .size() function, which returns the
number of key-value pairs present on the map.

Syntax:

int size_of_map = ourmap.size();

3. Deletion: S
​ uppose we want to delete the key ​“abc” f​ rom the map,
we will be using .remove() function.

4
 Syntax:

ourmap.remove(“abc”);

Remove Duplicates

Problem statement: ​Given an array of integers, we need to remove the duplicate

values from that array, and the values should be in the same order as present in
the array.

For example:​ Suppose the given array is arr = {1, 3, 6, 2, 4, 1, 4, 2, 3, 2, 4, 6}, answer
should be {1, 3, 6, 2, 4}.

Approach: ​We will add unique values to the vector and then return it. To check for
unique values, start traversing the array, and for each array element, check if the
value is already present in the map or not. If not, then we will insert that value in
the vector and update the map; otherwise, we will proceed to the next index of the
array without making any changes.

Let’s look at the code for better understanding.

public ​ArrayList<Integer> ​removeDuplicates​(ArrayList<Integer> a, int size){

// to store the unique elements.
ArrayList<Integer> output = new ArrayList<>();

HashMap<Integer, Boolean> seen = new HashMap<>();

for ​(int i=0; i<size; i++) { ​// traversing the array
if ​(seen.containsKey(a[i])) ​// using .containsKey() function to
​continue;​ //check if the value has already occurred.
​else​ {
seen.put(a[i], true); ​ // If not, then updating the map
output.add(a[i]); ​// and inserting in map.
}
}
return ​output;
}

5
Bucket Array and Hash function

Now, let’s see how to perform insertion, deletion, and search operations using hash
tables. Till now, we have seen that arrays are the fastest way to extract data as
compared to other data structures as the time complexity of accessing the data in
the array is O(1). So we will try to use them in implementing the hashmaps.

Now, we want to store the key-value pairs in an array, named as a ​bucket array​.
We need an integer corresponding to the key so that we can keep it in the bucket
array. To do so, we use a ​hash function​. A hash function converts the key into an
integer, which acts as the index for storing the key in the array.

For example: S
​ uppose, we want to store some names from the contact list in the
hash table, check out the following the image:

6
Suppose we want to store a string in a hash table, and after passing the string
through the hash function, the integer we obtain is equal to 10593, but the bucket
array’s size is only 20. So, we can’t store that string in the array as 10593, as this
index does not exist in the array of size 20.

To overcome this problem, we will divide the hashmap into two parts:

● Hash code
● Compression function

The first step to store a value into the bucket array is to convert the key into an
integer (this could be any integer irrespective of the size of the bucket array). This
part is achieved by using hashcode. For different types of keys, we will be having
different kinds of hash codes. Now we will pass this value through the compression
function, which will convert that value within the range of our bucket array’s size.
Now, we can directly store that key against the index obtained after passing
through the compression function.

The compression function can be used as (% bucket_size).

One example of a hash code could be: (Example input: “abcd”)

“abcd” = (‘a’ * p​3​) + (‘b’ * p​2​) + (‘c’ * p​1​) + (‘d’ * p​0​)

Where p is generally taken as a prime number so that they are well
distributed.

But, there is still a possibility that after passing the key through from hash code,
when we give the same through the compression function, we can get the same
values of indices. For example, let s1 = “ab” and s2 = “cd”. Now using the above hash
function for p = 2, h1 = 292 and h2 = 298. Let the bucket size be equal to 2. Now, if
we pass the hash codes through the compression function, we will get:

7
Compression_function1 = 292 % 2 = 0

Compression_function2 = 298 % 2 = 0

This means they both lead to the same index 0.

This is known as a ​collision​.

Collision Handling

We can handle collisions in two ways:

● Closed hashing (or closed addressing)

● Open addressing

In closed hashing, each entry of the array will be a linked list. This means it should
be able to store every value that corresponds to this index. The array position holds
the address to the head of the linked list, and we can traverse the linked list by
using the head pointer for the same and add the new element at the end of that
linked list. This is also known as s​ eparate chaining​.

On the other hand, in open addressing, we will check for the index in the bucket
array if it is empty or not. If it is empty, then we will directly insert the key-value pair
over that index. If not, then will we find an alternate position for the same. To find
the alternate position, we can use the following:

h​i​(a) = hf(a) + f(i)

Where hf(a) is the original hash function, and f(i) is the i-th try over the hash
function to obtain the final position h​i​(a).

To figure out this f(i), following are some of the techniques:

1. Linear probing: ​In this method, we will linearly probe to the next slot until
we find the empty index. Here, f(i) = i.

8
 2. Quadratic probing: ​As the name suggests, we will look for alternate i​2
positions ahead of the filled ones, i.e., f(i) = i​2​.
3. Double hashing: ​According to this method, f(i) = i * H(a), where H(a) is some
other hash function.

In practice, we generally prefer to use separate chaining over open addressing, as it

is easier to implement and is also more efficient.

Let’s now implement the hashmap of our own.

Hashmap implementation - Insert

As discussed earlier, we will be implementing separate chaining. We will be using

value as a template and key as a string as we are required to find the hash code for
the key. Taking key as a template will make it difficult to convert it using hash code.

Let’s look at the code for the same.

public class ​MapNode​<K, V> {

K key;
V value;
MapNode<K, V> next;

public ​MapNode​(K key, V value) {

this.key = key;
this.value = value;
}
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

​ ap ​<K, V> {
class M
ArrayList<MapNode<K, V>> buckets;
int size;
int numBuckets;
public ​Map​() {
numBuckets = 5;
buckets = new ArrayList<>();
for ​(int i = 0; i < numBuckets; i++) {
buckets.add(null);
}
}

9
 private int ​getBucketIndex​(K key) {
int hashCode = key.hashCode();
return ​hashCode % numBuckets;
}

public void ​insert​(K key, V value) {

int bucketIndex = getBucketIndex(key);
MapNode<K, V> head = buckets.get(bucketIndex);
while (head != null) {
if ​(head.key.equals(key)) {
head.value = value;
return​;
}
head = head.next;
}
head = buckets.get(bucketIndex);
MapNode<K, V> newElementNode = new MapNode<K, V>(key , value);
size++;
newElementNode.next = head;
buckets.set(bucketIndex, newElementNode);
double loadFactor = (1.0*size)/numBuckets;
if ​(loadFactor > 0.7) {
rehash();
}
}
}

Hashmap implementation - Delete and search

Refer to the code below and follow the comments in it.

public V ​removeKey​(K key) {

int bucketIndex = getBucketIndex(key);
MapNode<K, V> head = buckets.get(bucketIndex);
MapNode<K, V> prev = null;
while ​(head != null) {
if ​(head.key.equals(key)) {
size--;
if ​(prev == null) {
buckets.set(bucketIndex, head.next);
} ​else ​{
prev.next = head.next;
}
return ​head.value;
}
prev = head;

10
 head = head.next;
}
return ​null;
}

public V ​getValue​(K key) {

int bucketIndex = getBucketIndex(key);
MapNode<K, V> head = buckets.get(bucketIndex);
while ​(head != null) {
if (head.key.equals(key)) {
return head.value;
}
head = head.next;
}
return ​null;
}

Time Complexity and Load Factor

Let’s define specific terms before moving forward:

1. n = Number of entries in our map.

2. l = length of the word (in case of strings)
3. b = number of buckets. On average, each box contains (n/b) entries. This is
known as l​ oad factor​ means b boxes contain n entries. We also need to
ensure that the load factor is always less than 0.7, i.e.,

(n/b) < 0.7, this will ensure that each bucket does not contain too
many entries in it.
4. To make sure that load factor < 0.7, we can’t reduce the number of entries,
but we can increase the bucket size comparatively to maintain the ratio. This
process is known as ​Rehashing​.

This ensures that time complexity is on an average O(1) for insertion, deletion, and
search operations each.

11
Rehashing

Now, we will try to implement the rehashing in our map. After inserting each
element into the map, we will check the load factor. If the load factor’s value is
greater than 0.7, then we will rehash.

Refer to the code below for better understanding.

public int ​size​() {

return ​size;
}

public double ​loadFactor​() {

return ​(1.0 * size)/numBuckets;
}

private void ​rehash​() {

System.out.println("Rehashing: buckets"+ numBuckets+" size " + size);
ArrayList<MapNode<K, V>> temp = buckets;
buckets = new ArrayList<>();
for ​(int i = 0; i < 2*numBuckets; i++) {
buckets.add(null);
}
size = 0;
numBuckets *= 2;
for ​(int i = 0; i < temp.size(); i++) {
MapNode<K, V> head = temp.get(i);
while ​(head != null) {
K key = head.key;
V value = head.value;
insert(key, value);
head = head.next;
}
}
}

Note: W
​ hile solving the problems, use the in-built hashmap only.

12
Tries and Huffman Coding
Introduction to Tries

Suppose we want to implement a word-dictionary using a Java program and

perform the following functions:

● Addition of the word(s)

● Searching a word
● Removal of the word(s)

To do the same, hashmaps can be thought of as an efficient data structure as the

average case time complexity​ of insertion, deletion, and retrieval is O(1) for
integer, character, float, and decimal values.

Let us discuss the time complexity of the same in case of strings.

Suppose we want to insert string a

​ bc​ in our hashmap. To do so, first, we would
need to calculate the hashcode for it, which would require the traversal of the
whole string ​abc​. Hence, the time taken will be the length of the entire string
irrespective of the time taken to perform any of the above operations. Thus, we can
conclude that the insertion of a string will be O(string_length).

To search a word in the hashmap, we again have to calculate the hashcode of the
string to be searched, and for that also, it would require O(string_length) time.

Similarly, for removing a word from the hashmap, we would have to calculate the
hashcode for that string. It would again require O(string_length) time.

For the same purpose, we can use another data structure known as t​ ries​.

1
Below is the visual representation of the trie:

Here, the node at the top named as the ​start​ is the root node of our ​n-ary tree.

Suppose we want to insert the word ​ARE i​ n the trie. We will begin from the root,
search for the first word ​A​ and then insert R
​ ​ as its child and similarly insert the
letter E
​ ​. You can see it as the left-most path in the above trie.

Now, we want to insert the word A

​ S ​in the trie. We will follow the same procedure
as above. First-of-all, we find the letter A
​ ​ as the child of the root node, and then we
will search for S
​ ​. If S
​ ​ was already present as the child of A
​ ​, then we will do nothing
as the given word is already present otherwise, we will insert ​S.​ You can see this in
the above trie. Similarly, we added other words in the trie.

This approach also takes O(word_length) time for insertion.

2
Moving on to searching a word in the trie, for that also, we would have to traverse
the complete length of the string, which would take O(word_length) time.

Let us take an example. Suppose we want to search for the word ​DOT i​ n the above
trie, we will first-of-all search for the letter D
​ ​ as the direct child of the start node and
then search for O
​ ​ and ​T​ and, then we will return true as the word is present in the
trie.

Consider another example A

​ R​, which we want to search for in the given trie.
Following the above approach, we would return true as the given word is present in
it. However ideally, we should return false as the actual word was ​ARE ​ and not A
​ R​.
To overcome this, it can be observed that in the above trie, some of the letters are
marked with a bolder circle, and others are not. This boldness represents the
termination of a word starting from the root node. Hence, while searching for a
word, we will always be careful about the last letter that it should be bolded to
represent the termination.

Note: W
​ hile insertion in a trie, the last letter of the word should be bolded as a
mark of termination of a word.

In the above trie, the following are all possibilities that can occur:

● ARE, AS
● DO, DOT
● NEW, NEWS, NOT
● ZEN

Here, to remove the word, we will simply unbold the terminating letter as it will
make that word invalid. For example: If you want to remove the string ​DO​ f​ rom the
above trie by preserving the occurrence of string DOT, then we will reach ​O​ and
then unbolden it. This way the word ​DO​ i​ s removed but at the same time, another

3
word ​DOT w
​ hich was on the same path as that of word D
​ O​ was still preserved in the
trie structure.

For removal of a word from trie, the time complexity is still O(word_length) as we
are traversing the complete length of the word to reach the last letter to unbold it.

When to use tries over hashmaps?

It can be observed that using tries, we can improve the space complexity.

For example: W
​ e have 1000 words starting from character ​A​ that we want to store.
Now, if you try to hold these words using hashmap, then for each word, we have to
store character ​A​ differently. But in case of tries, we only need to store the
character A
​ ​ once. In this way, we can save a lot of space, and hence space
optimization leads us to prefer tries over hashmaps in such scenarios.

In the beginning, we thought of implementing a dictionary. Let's recall a feature of a

dictionary, namely A
​ uto-Search. ​While browsing the dictionary, we start by typing a
character. All the words beginning from that character appear in the search list. But
this functionality can't be achieved using hashmaps as in the hashmap, the data
stored is independent of each other, whereas, in case of tries, the data is stored in
the form of a tree-like structure. Hence, here also, tries prove to be efficient over
hashmaps.

TrieNode Class Implementation

Follow the below-mentioned code (with comments)...

​ rieNode ​{
class T
char data; ​ // To store data (character value: ‘A’ - ‘Z’)
TreeNode[] children; ​ ​// To store the address of each child
boolean isTerminal; ​// it will be TRUE if the word terminates
// at this character

4
 public ​TrieNode​(char data) { ​// Constructor for values initialization
this.data = data;
children = new TrieNode[26];
for(int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
children[i] = null;
}
isTerminal = false;
}
}

Insert Function

To insert a word in a trie, we will use recursion. Suppose we have the following trie:

Now we want to insert the word B

​ ET ​ in our trie.

Recursion says that we need to work on a smaller problem, and the rest it will
handle itself. So, we will do it on the root node.

5
Note: P
​ ractically, the functionality of bolding the terminal character is achieved
using the boolean i​ sTerminal ​variable for that particular node. If this value is true
means that the node is the terminal value of the string, otherwise not.

Approach:

We will first search for letter ​B a

​ nd check if it is present as the children of the root
node or not and then call recursion on it. If ​B​ is present as a child of the root node
as in our case it is, then we will simply recurse over it by shifting the length of the
string by 1. In case, character B
​ ​ was not the direct child of the root node, then we
have to create one and then call recursion on it. After the recursive call, we will see
that be is now a root node, and the character E
​ i​ s now the word we are searching
for. We will follow the same procedure as done in searching for character B
​ ​ against
the root node and then move forward to the next character of the string, i.e., ​T,
which happens to be the last character of our string. Now we will check character T
​
as the child of character ​E​. In our case, it is not a child of character E
​ ​, so we’ll create
it. As T
​ ​ is the last character of the string, so we will mark its i​ sTerminal v
​ alue to
True​.

Following will be the three steps of recursion:

● Small Calculation: W
​ e will check if the root node has the first character of
the string as one of its children or not. If not, then we will create one.
● Recursive call: W
​ e will tell the recursion to insert the remaining string in the
subtree of our trie.
● Base Case: ​As the length of the string becomes zero, or in other words, we
reach the NULL character, then we need to mark the i​ sTerminal ​for the last
character as True.

Follow the code below, along with the comments...

6
 ​ rie ​{
class T
TrieNode root;

public ​Trie​() {
root = new TrieNode();
}

public void ​insertWord​(TrieNode root, String word) {

// Base case
if​(word.length() == 0) {
root.isTerminal = true;
return​;
}
// Small Calculation
int index = word.charAt(0) - 'a'; ​// As for ‘a’ refers to
// index 0, ‘b’ refers to index 2 and so on,
// so to reach the correct index we will do so
TrieNode child;
if​(root.children[index] != null) {​//If the first character of
// string is already present as the child node of the root node
child = root.children[index];
}
else ​{ ​// If not present as the child then creating one.
child = new TrieNode(word.charAt(0));
root.children[index] = child;
}

// Recursive call
insertWord(child, word.substring(1));
}
// For user
public void ​insertWord​(String word) {
insertWord(root, word);
}
}

Search in Tries

Objective: C
​ reate a search function which will get a string as its argument to be
searched in the trie and returns a boolean value. T
​ rue i​ f the string is present in the
trie and F
​ alse ​if not.

7
Approach: ​We will be using the same process as that used during insertion. We will
call recursion over the root node after searching for the first character as its child. If
the first character is not present as one of the children of the root node, then we
will simply return false; otherwise, we will send the remaining string to the
recursion. When we reach the empty string, then check for the last character’s
isTerminal ​value; if it is t​ rue, ​means that word exists in our trie, and we will return
true from there otherwise, return false.

Try to code it yourselves, and for the code, refer to the solution tab of the same.

Tries Implementation: Remove

Objective: T
​ o delete the given word from our trie.

Approach:​ First-of-all we need to search for the word in the trie, and if found, then
we simply need to mark the ​isTerminal ​value of the last character of the word to
false​ as that will simply denote that the word does not exist in our trie.

Check out the code below: (Nearly same as that of insertion, just a minor changes
which are explained along side)

void ​removeWord​(TrieNode root, String word) {

// Base case
if​(word.length() == 0) {
root.isTerminal = false;
return​;
}
// Small calculation
TrieNode child;
int index = word.charAt(0) - 'a';
if​(root.children[index] != null) {
child = root.children[index];
}
else ​{
// Word not found
return​;

8
 }

removeWord(child, word.substring(1));
// Suppose if the character of the string doesn’t have any child and is a
part of the word to be deleted, then we can simply delete that node also as
it is not referencing to any other word in the trie

// Removing child Node if it is useless

if​(child.isTerminal == false) {
for​(int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
if​(child.children[i] != null) {
return​;
}
}
delete child;
root.children[index] = null;
}
}

​ / For user
/
void ​removeWord​(string word) {
removeWord(root, word);
}

Types of Tries

There are two types of tries:

● Compressed tries:
○ Majorly, used for space optimization.
○ We generally club the characters if they have at most one child.
○ General rule: E
​ very node has at least two child nodes.

Refer to the figure below:

Suppose our regular trie looks like this-

9
 Figure - 1

Its compressed trie version will look as follows:

● Pattern matching:
○ Used to match patterns in the trie.

10
 ■ Example: In the figure-1 (shown above), if we want to search for
pattern b
​ en ​in the trie, but the word b
​ end ​was present instead,
using the normal search function, we would return false, as the
last character n
​ ​’s isTerminal property was false, but in this trie,
we would return true.
○ To overcome this problem of the last character’s identification, just
remove the ​isTerminal​ property of the node.
○ In the figure-1, instead of searching for the pattern b
​ en​, we now want
to search for the pattern ​en​. Our trie would return false if ​en i​ s not
directly connected to the root. But as the pattern is present in the
word ​ben​, it should return true. To overcome this problem, we need to
attach each of the prefix strings to the root node so that every pattern
is encountered.
■ For example: f​ or the string ​ben,​ we would store b
​ en​, e
​ n​, n
​ ​ in
the trie as the direct children of the root node.

11
Huffman Coding
Introduction
Huffman Coding is one approach followed for ​Text Compression. T
​ ext
compression means reducing the space requirement for saving a particular text.

Huffman Coding is a lossless data compression algorithm, ie. it is a way of

compressing data without the data losing any information in the process. It is
useful in cases where there is a series of frequently occurring characters.

Working of Huffman Algorithm:

Suppose, the given string is:

Here, each of the characters of the string takes 8 bits of memory. Since there are a
total of 15 characters in the string so the total memory consumption will be 15*8 =
120 bits. Let’s try to compress its size using the Huffman Algorithm.

First-of-all, Huffman Coding creates a tree by calculating the frequencies of each

character of the string and then assigns them some unique code so that we can
retrieve the data back using these codes.

Follow the steps below:

12
 1. Begin with calculating the frequency of each character value in the given
string.

2. Sort the characters in ascending order concerning their frequency and store
them in a priority queue, say Q
​ .
3. Each character should be considered as a different leaf node.

4. Make an empty node, say z​ ​. The left child of z is marked as the minimum
frequency and the right child, the second minimum frequency. The value of z
is calculated by summing up the first two frequencies.

13
 Here, “.” denote the internal nodes.

5. Now, remove the two characters with the lowest frequencies from the
priority queue ​Q a
​ nd append their sum to the same.
6. Simply insert the above node​ z​ to the tree.
7. For every character in the string, repeat steps 3 to 5.

14
 8. Assign 0 to the left side and 1 to the right side except for the leaf nodes.

15
 The size table is given below:

Character Frequency Code Size

A 5 11 5*2 = 10

B 1 100 1*3 = 3

C 6 0 6*1 = 6

D 3 101 3*3 = 9

4*8 = 32 bits 15 bits 28 bits

Size before encoding:​ 120 bits

Size after encoding:​ 32 + 15 + 28 = 75 bits

To decode the code, simply traverse through the tree (starting from the root)
to find the character. Suppose we want to decode 101, then:

16
Time Complexity:
In the case of encoding, inserting each character into the priority queue takes
O(log n​) time. Therefore, for the complete array, the time complexity becomes
O(nlog(n))​.

Similarly, extraction of the element from the priority queue takes O

​ (log n)​ time.
Hence, for the complete array, the achieved time complexity is ​O(nlog n)​.

Applications of Huffman Coding:

● They are used for transmitting fax and text.
● They are used by conventional compression formats like PKZIP, GZIP, etc.

17
Dynamic Programming - 1
Introduction
Suppose we need to find the n​th​ Fibonacci number using recursion that we have
already found out in our previous sections. Let’s directly look at its code:

public static int​ ​fibo​(int n){

if​(n <= ​1​)
return​ n;
return​ fibo(n​-1​) + fibo(n​-2​);
}

● Here, for every n, we need to make a recursive call to f​ (n-1)​ and ​f(n-2)​.
● For​ f(n-1)​, we will again make the recursive call to ​f(n-2)​ and ​f(n-3).
● Similarly, for f​ (n-2)​, recursive calls are made on f​ (n-3)​ and​ f(n-4)​ until we
reach the base case.
● The recursive call diagram will look something like shown below:

● At every recursive call, we are doing constant work(k)(addition of previous

outputs to obtain the current one).
● At every level, we are doing 2
​ ​n​K w
​ ork (where n = 0, 1, 2, …).
● Since reaching 1 from n will take n calls, therefore, at the last level, we are
doing 2​n-1​k work.
● Total work can be calculated as:

1
(​20​​ + ​21​​ + ​22​​ + ... + ​2n​​ -1​) * k ≃ ​2n​​ k
● Hence, it means time complexity will be ​O(2​n​)​.
● We need to improve this complexity. Let’s look at the example below for
finding the 6​th​ F
​ ibonacci number.

Important Observation:
● We can observe that there are repeating recursive calls made over the entire
program.
● As in the above figure, for calculating f(5), we need the value of f(4) (first
recursive call over f(4)), and for calculating f(6), we again need the value of
f(4)(second similar recursive call over f(4)).
● Both of these recursive calls are shown above in the outlining circle.
● Similarly, there are many other values for which we are repeating the
recursive calls.
● Generally, while recursing, there are repeated recursion calls, which
increases the time complexity of the program.
To overcome this problem, we will store the output of previously encountered
values(preferably in arrays as these are most efficient to traverse and extract data).
Next time whenever we will be making the recursive calls over these values, we will

2
directly consider their already stored outputs and then use these in our calculations
instead of calculating them over again.

This way, we can improve the running time of our code. This process of storing
each recursive call’s output and then using them for further calculations preventing
the code from calculating these again is called M
​ emoization​.

● To achieve this in our example we will simply take an answer array, initialized
to -1.
● Now while making a recursive call, we will first check if the value stored in
this answer array corresponding to that position is -1 or not.
● If it is -1, it means we haven’t calculated the value yet and need to proceed
further by making recursive calls for the respective value.
● After obtaining the output, we need to store this in the answer array so that
next time, if the same value is encountered, it can be directly used from this
answer array.

Now in this process of memoization, considering the above Fibonacci numbers

example, it can be observed that the total number of unique calls will be at most
(n+1) o
​ nly.

Let’s look at the memoization code for Fibonacci numbers below:

private static ​int​ ​fibo_helper​(int n, int[] ans){

if​ (n==​0​ ​||​ n==​1) ​//Base case
return​ n;

​ /check if output already exists

/
if​ (ans[n] != ​-1)​{
return​ ans[n];
}

​// calculate output

int a = fibo_helper(n-1, ans);
int b = fibo_helper(n-2, ans);

3
 ​// save the output for future use
ans[n] = a + b;

​// return the final output

​return ​ans[n];
}

public static ​int​ ​fibo_2​(int n){

int[] ans = new int[n+1];

for(int i=0; i<=n; i++){

ans[i] = -1; ​// -1 represents that fibb for that
} ​// index does not exist

​return ​fibo_helper(n, ans);

}

Let’s dry run for n = 5, to get a better understanding:

4
Again, if we observe carefully, we can see that for any number, we are not able to
make a recursive call on the right side of it. This means that we can make at most
5+1 = 6 (n+1) unique recursive calls which reduce the time complexity to O(n) which
is highly optimized as compared to simple recursion.

Summary
● Memoization is a t​ op-down approach, w
​ here we save the previous answers
so that they can be used to calculate future answers and improve the time
complexity to a greater extent.
● Finally, what we are doing is making a recursive call to every index of the
answer array and calculating the value for it using previous outputs stored.
● Recursive calls terminate over the base case, which means we are already
aware of the answers that should be stored in the base case’s indexes.
● In cases of Fibonacci numbers, these indexes are 0 and 1 as f(0) = 0 and f(1) =
1. So we can directly allot these two values to our answer array and then use
these to calculate f(2), which is f(1) + f(0), and so on for every other index.
● This can be simply done iteratively by running a loop from i = (2 to n).
● Finally, we will get our answer at the 5​th​ i​ ndex of the answer array as we
already know that the i-th index contains the answer to the i-th value.

We are first trying to figure out the dependency of the current value on the
previous values and then using them calculating our new value. Now, we are
looking for those values which do not depend on other values, which means they
are independent (the base case’s values as these are the smallest problems about
which we are already aware of). Finally, we will follow a ​bottom-up approach t​ o
reach the desired index. This approach of converting recursion into iteration is
known as D
​ ynamic programming(DP).

5
Let us now look at the DP code for calculating the n​th​ Fibonacci number:

public static ​int​ ​fibo_3​(int n){

int[] ans = new int[n+1];

ans[0] = 0; ​// storing independent values in solution array

ans[1] = 1;

​// following bottom-up approach to reach n

for(int i=2; i<=n; i++){
ans[i] = ans[i-1] + ans[i-2];
}

​return ​ans[n]; ​// final answer

}

Note: G
​ enerally, memoization is a recursive approach, and DP is an iterative
approach.

For all further problems, we will do the following:

1. Figure out the most straightforward approach for solving a problem using
recursion.
2. Now, try to optimize the recursive approach by storing the previous answers
using memoization.
3. Finally, replace recursion by iteration using dynamic programming. (It is
preferred to be done in this manner because recursion generally has an
increased space complexity as compared to iteration methods.)

Problem Statement: Min steps to 1

Given a positive integer n, find the minimum number of steps s, that takes n
to 1. You can perform any one of the following three steps:
1. Subtract 1 from it. (n = n-1).
2. If its divisible by 2, divide by 2. (if n%2 == 0, then n= n/2 ).

6
 3. If its divisible by 3, divide by 3. (if n%3 == 0, then n = n / 3 ).

Example 1:​ ​For n = 4:

STEP-1: ​n = 4/2 = 2
STEP-2:​ n = 2/2 = 1

Hence, the answer is ​2.

Example 2:​ ​For n = 7:

STEP-1:​ n = 7 - 1 = 6
STEP-2: ​n = 6/3 = 2
STEP-3: ​n = 2/2 = 1

Hence, the answer is ​3​.

Approach:​ We are only allowed to perform the above three mentioned ways to
reduce any number to 1.

Let’s start thinking about the brute-force approach first, i.e., recursion.

We will make a recursive call to each of the three steps keeping in mind that for
dividing by 2, the number should be divisible by 2 and similarly for 3 as given in the
question statement. After that take the minimum value out of the three obtained
and simply add 1 to the answer for the current step itself. Thinking about the base
case, we can see that on reaching 1, simply we have to return 0 as it is our
destination value. Let’s now look at the code:

7
 public static ​int ​minSteps​(int n){
​// base case
​if​ (n <= ​1​)
​return​ ​0;

int x = minSteps(n​-1​); ​// Recursive call 1

int y = I​ nteger​.MAX_VALUE; ​ / Initialise to infinity to check

/
​ nt z = I
i ​ nteger​.MAX_VALUE;​ // divisibility by 2 or 3

​if​ (n%​2​ == ​0​)

y = minSteps(n/​2​); ​//Recursive call 2
​if​ (n%​3​ == ​0​)
z = minSteps(n/​3​); ​ //Recursive call 3

​// Calculating answer

int ans = Math.min(x, Math.min(y, z)) + ​1;
​return​ ans;
}

Now, we have to check if we can optimize the code that we have written. It can be
done using memoization. But, for memoization to apply, we need to check if there
are any overlapping sub-problems so that we can store the previous values to
obtain the new ones. To check this let’s dry run the problem for n = 12:

(Here X represents that the calls are not feasible as the number is not divisible by
either of 2 or 3)

8
Here, if we blindly make three recursive calls at each step, then the time complexity
will approximately be​ O(3​n​)​.

From the above, it is visible that there are repeating sub-problems. Hence, this
problem can be optimized using memoization.

Now, we need to figure out the number of unique calls, i.e., how many answers we
are required to save. It is clear that we need at most n+1 responses to be saved,
starting from n = 0, and the final answer will be present at index n.

The code will be nearly the same as the recursive approach; just we will not be
making recursive calls for already stored outputs. Follow the code and comments
below:

private static ​int ​minStepsHelper​(n, int[] memo){

​// base case
​if​ (n == ​1​)
​return​ ​0;

9
 ​if​ (memo[n] != ​-1​)
​return​ memo[n];

int res = minStepsHelper(n​-1​, memo);

​if​ (n%​2​ == ​0​)

res = Math.min(res, minStepsHelper(n/​2​, memo));
​if​ (n%​3​ == ​0​)
res = Math.min(res, minStepsHelper(n/​3​, memo));

​// store memo[n] and return

memo[n] = ​1​ + res;
​return​ memo[n];
}

public static ​int ​minSteps_2​(int n){

int[] memo = new int[n+1];

​// initialize memoized array with -1

​for​ (int i=0; i<=n; i++)
memo[i] = ​-1;

​return​ minStepsHelper(n, memo);

}

Time complexity has been reduced significantly to ​O(n) ​as there are only (​ n+1)
unique iterations. Now, try to code the DP approach by yourself, and for the code,
refer to the solution tab.

Problem Statement: Minimum Number of Squares

Given an integer N, find and return the count of minimum numbers, the
sum of whose squares is equal to N.

10
 That is, if N is 4, then we can represent it as : {1^2 + 1^2 + 1^2 + 1^2} and {2^2}.
The output will be 1, as 1 is the minimum count of numbers required. (x^y
represents x raised to the power y.)

Example: ​For n = 12, we have the following ways:

● 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1
● 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 2^2
● 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 1^1 + 2^2 + 2^2
● 2^2 + 2^2 + 2^2

Hence, the minimum count is obtained from the 4-th option. Therefore, the answer
is equal to 3.
Approach:​ First-of-all, we need to think about breaking the problems into two
parts, one of which will be handled by recursion and the other one will be handled
by us(smaller sub-problem). We can break the problem as follows:

And so on…

● In the above figure, it is clear that in the left subtree we are making ourselves
try over a variety of values that can be included as a part of our solution.
● The right subtree’s calculation will be done by recursion.
● Hence, we will just handle the i​ ​2 ​part, and​ (n-i​2​)​ will be handled by recursion.
● By now, we have got ourselves an idea of solving this problem, the only
thinking left is the loop’s range on which we will be iterating, i.e., the values
of i​ f​ or which we will be deciding to consider while solving or not.

11
 ● As the maximum value up to which i can be pushed, to reach n
​ ​ is √
​ n​ as
(√n*√n = n).​ Hence, we will be iterating over the range (​ 1 to √n)​ and do
consider each possible way by sending ​(n-i​2​)​ over the recursion.
● This way we will get different subsequences and as per the question, we will
simply return the minimum out of it.

This problem is left for you to try out using all the three approaches and for code,
refer to the solution tab of the same.

No. of balanced BTs

Problem Statement: ​Given an integer h, find the possible number of balanced

binary trees of height h. You just need to return the count of possible binary trees
which are balanced. This number can be huge, so return output modulo 10​9​ + 7.

For Example: I​ n the figure below, the left side represents the height h, and the
right side represents the possible binary trees along with the count.

Here for h = 1, the answer is 1. For h = 2, the answer is 3. For h = 3, the answer is 15.
Approach:​ Suppose we have h = 3, so at level 3 there are four nodes and each
node has two options, either it can be included or excluded from the binary tree,

12
hence in total, we have 2​4​ =
​ 16 possibilities. Here, we need to exclude the possibility
of the case when none out of 4 is present. Hence, the remaining options are 16-1 =
15. We can think that this approach could be efficient as we just need to know the
number of nodes at the last level, and then we can simply apply the above formula.

Now, consider for h = 4, where the last level has got eight nodes, so according to
the above approach, the answer could be 2​8​ - 1 = 255 ways, but the solution for h =
4 is 315. Let’s look at the cases which we missed. One of the examples could be:

Till now, we were only working over the last level, but in the above example, if we
remove the nodes from upper levels, then also the binary tree could remain
balanced.

Let’s now think about implementing it using recursion on trees. If the height of the
complete binary tree is h, that means the height of its left and right subtrees
individually is at most h-1. So if the height of the left subtree is h-1, then the height
of the right subtree could be any among {h-1, h-2} and vise versa.

13
Initially, we were given the problem of finding the output for height h. Now we have
reduced the same to tell the output of height h-1 and h-2. Finally, we just need to
figure out these counts, add them, and return.

Let's now look at the code below:

public​ static int ​balancedBTs​(int h) {

if​(h <= 1) { ​ / Base case
/
return ​1;
}

int mod = (int) (Math.pow(10, 9)) + 7;

int x = balancedBTs(h - 1); ​ // Answer for h-1
int y = balancedBTs(h - 2); ​ / Answer for h-2
/

/* Since, we need to find the total number of combinations, so will

multiply the left height’s output and the right height’s output as they are
independent of each other (Using law of multiplication in combinations)

​Possible Cases:
● Both h-1 = x*x
● h-1 and h-2 = x*y
● h-2 and h-1 = y*x

Now, we will add all these together.

*/

14
 int temp1 = (int)(((long)(x)*x) % mod);
int temp2 = (int)((2* (long)(x) * y) % mod);
int ans = (temp1 + temp2) % mod;

return ​ans;
}

Time Complexity: ​If we observe this function, then we can find it very similar to the
pattern of the Fibonacci number. Hence, the time complexity is O(2​h​).

Now, try to reduce the time complexity of the code using memoization and DP by
yourselves and for solution refer to the solution tab of the problem.

15
Dynamic Programming- 2
Let us now move to some advanced-level DP questions, which deal with 2D arrays.

Problem Statement: Min Cost Path

Given an integer matrix of size ​m*n​, you need to find out the value of minimum
cost to reach from the cell​ (0, 0) to (m-1, n-1)​. From a cell​ (i, j)​, you can move in
three directions : ​(i+1, j), (i, j+1) and (i+1, j+1).​ The cost of a path is defined as the
sum of values of each cell through which the path passes.

For example, T
​ he given input is as follows-

3​ ​4
3​ ​ ​ 1
4 ​ ​ 2 ​
2​ ​ ​ 8
1 ​ ​ 9 ​
4​ ​ ​ 8
7 ​ ​ 1 ​
The path that should be followed is 3
​ -> 1 -> 8 -> 1​. Hence the output is 1
​ 3​.

Approach:
● Thinking about the r​ ecursive approach ​to reach from the cell (​ 0, 0)​ to (​ m-1,
n-1)​, we need to decide for every cell about the direction to proceed out of
three.
● We will simply call recursion over all the three choices available to us, and
finally, we will be considering the one with minimum cost and add the
current cell’s value to it.
● Let’s now look at the recursive code for this problem:

1
public ​int ​minCostPath​(int[][] input, int m, int n, int i, int j) {
// Base case: reaching out to the destination cell
if​(i == m- 1 && j == n- 1) {
return ​input[i][j];
}

if​(i >= m || j >= n) { ​// checking for within the constraints or not
return ​Integer.MAX_VALUE; ​//if not, returning +infinity so that
} ​// it will not be considered as the answer

// Recursive calls
int x = minCostPath(input, m, n, i, j+1); ​// Towards right direction
int y = minCostPath(input, m, n, i+1, j+1);​// Towards diagonal
int z = minCostPath(input, m, n, i+1, j); ​// Towards down direction

// Small Calculation: figuring out the minimum value and then adding
// current cells value to it
int ans = Math.min(x, Math.min(y, z)) + input[i][j];
return ​ans;
}

public ​int ​minCostPath​(int[][] input, int m, int n) {

// we will be using a helper function
return ​minCostPath(input, m, n, 0, 0); ​// as wee need to keep the
}​ //track of current row and column

Let’s dry run the approach to see the code flow. Suppose, m
​ = 4 and n = 5​; then the
recursive call flow looks something like below:

2
Here, we can see that there are many repeated/overlapping recursive calls(for
example: ​(1,1)​ is one of them), leading to exponential time complexity, i.e., ​O(3​n​)​. If
we store the output for each recursive call after their first occurrence, we can easily
avoid the repetition. It means that we can improve this using memoization.

Now, let’s move on to the ​Memoization approach​.

In memoization, we avoid repeated overlapping calls by storing the output of each
recursive call in an array. In this case, we will be using a 2D array instead of 1D, as
we already discussed in our previous lectures that the storage used for the
memoization is generally the same as the one that recursive calls use to their
maximum.
Refer to the memoization code (along with the comments) below for better
understanding:

public ​int ​helper​(int[][]input, int m, int n, int i, int j, int[][] output)

{
​if​(i == m- 1 && j == n- 1) { ​// Base case
​return ​input[i][j];
}

​if​(i >= m || j >= n) {

​return ​Integer.MAX_VALUE;
}

​ // Check if ans already exists

​if​(output[i][j] != -1) {
​return ​output[i][j]; ​// as each cell stores its own ans
}

​// Recursive calls

int x = helper(input, m, n, i, j+1, output);
int y = helper(input, m, n, i+1, j+1, output);
int z = helper(input, m, n, i+1, j, output);

// Small Calculation
int a = Math.min(x, Math.min(y, z)) + input[i][j];

// Save the answer for future use

output[i][j] = a;

3
 ​return ​a;
}

public ​int ​minCostPath_Mem​(int[][] input, int m, int n, int i, int j) {

int[][] output = new int[m][];

​for​(int i = 0; i < m; i++) {

output[i] = new int[n];
​for​(int j = 0; j < n; j++) {
output[i][j] = -1; ​// Initialising the output array by -1.
// Here, -1 denotes that the value of the
//current cell is unknown and could be
//replaced only after we find the same
}
}
​return ​helper(input, m, n, i, j, output);
}

Here, we can observe that as we move from the cell​ (0,0) to (m-1, n-1)​, in general,
the i-th row varies from 0 to m-1, and the j-th column runs from 0 to n-1. Hence, the
unique recursive calls will be a maximum of (​ m-1) * (n-1)​, which leads to the time
complexity of O
​ (m*n)​.
To get rid of the recursion, we will now proceed towards the ​DP approach​.
The DP approach is simple. We just need to create a solution array (lets name that
as ​ans​), where:
ans[i][j] = minimum cost to reach from (i, j) to (m​-1​, n​-1​)
Now, initialize the last row and last column of the matrix with the sum of their
values and the value, just after it. This is because, in the last row or column, we can
reach there from their forward cell only (You can manually check it), except the cell
(m-1, n-1)​, which is the value itself.

ans[m​-1​][n​-1​] = cost[m​-1​][n​-1​]
ans[m​-1​][j] = ans[m​-1​][j+​1​] + cost[m​-1​][j] (for ​0​ < j < n)
ans[i][n​-1​] = ans[i+​1​][n​-1​] + cost[i][m​-1​] (for ​0​ < i < m)

4
Next, we will simply fill the rest of our answer matrix by checking out the minimum
among values from where we could reach them. For this, we will use the same
formula as used in the recursive approach:

ans[i][j] = Minimum(ans[i+​1​][j], ans[i+​1​][j+​1​], ans[i][j+​1​]) + cost[i][j]

Finally, we will get our answer at the cell (0, 0), which we will return.
The code looks as follows:

public int minCost_DP(int[][] input, int m, int n) {

int[][] ans = new int[m][n];

ans[m-1][n-1] = input[m-1][n-1];

// Last row
for​(int j = n - 2; j >= 0; j--) {
ans[m-1][j] = input[m-1][j] + ans[m-1][j+1];
}

// Last col
for​(int i = m-2; i >= 0; i--) {
ans[i][n-1] = input[i][n-1] + ans[i+1][n-1];
}

​// Calculation using formula

for​(int i = m-2; i >= 0; i--) {
for​(int j = n-2; j >= 0; j--) {
ans[i][j] = input[i][j] + Math.min(ans[i][j+1],
Math.min(ans[i+1][j+1], ans[i+1][j]));
}
}
return ​ans[0][0]; ​// Our Final answer as discussed above
}

Note: T
​ his is the bottom-up approach to solve the question using DP.

5
Problem Statement: LCS (Longest Common Subsequence)
The longest common subsequence (LCS) is defined as the longest
subsequence that is common to all the given sequences, provided that the
elements of the subsequence are not required to occupy consecutive
positions within the original sequences.

Note: S
​ ubsequence is a part of the string which can be made by omitting none or
some of the characters from that string while maintaining the order of the
characters.

If s1 and s2 are two given strings then z is the common subsequence of s1 and s2, if
z is a subsequence of both of them.

Example 1​:

s1 = ​"abcdef"
s2 = "​ xyczef"

Here, the longest common subsequence is "

​ cef"​; hence the answer is 3 (the length
of LCS).

Example 2​:

s1 = ​"ahkolp"
s2 = "​ ehyozp"

Here, the longest common subsequence is "

​ hop"​; hence the answer is 3.

Approach: ​Let’s first think of a brute-force approach using ​recursion​. For LCS, we
have to match the starting characters of both strings. If they match, then simply we
can break the problem as shown below:

s1 = ​"x|yzar"
s2 = "​ x|qwea"

6
The rest of the LCS will be handled by recursion. But, if the first characters do not
match, then we have to figure out that by traversing which of the following strings,
we will get our answer. This can’t be directly predicted by just looking at them, so
we will be traversing over both of them one-by-one and check for the maximum
value of LCS obtained among them to be considered for our answer.

For example:

Suppose, string s
​ = ​"xyz"​ and string t
​ = ​"zxay"​.

We can see that their first characters do not match so that we can call recursion
over it in either of the following ways:

A=

B=

C=

Finally, our answer will be:

LCS = max(A, B, C)

Check the code below and follow the comments for a better understanding.

7
 public int ​lcs​(string s, string t) {
// Base case
if​(s.size() == 0 || t.size() == 0) {
​return ​0;
}

// Recursive calls
if​(s[0] == t[0]) {
return 1 + lcs(s.substr(1), t.substr(1));
}
else ​{
int a = lcs(s.substring(1), t); ​// discarding the first
// character of string s
int b = lcs(s, t.substring(1));​// discarding the first
// character of string t
int c = lcs(s.substring(1), t.substring(1));​// discarding the
// first character of both
​return ​Math.max(a, Math.max(b, c)); ​// Small calculation
}
}

If we dry run this over the example: ​s = ​"xyz"​ and ​t = ​"zxay"​, it will look
something like below:

Here, as for each node, we will be making three recursive calls, so the time
complexity will be exponential and is represented as O
​ (2​m+n​)​, where m and n are

8
the lengths of both strings. This is because, if we carefully observe the above code,
then we can skip the third recursive call as it will be covered by the two others.

Now, thinking over improving this time complexity...

Consider the diagram below, where we are representing the dry run in terms of its
length taken at each recursive call:

As we can see there are multiple overlapping recursive calls, the solution can be
optimized using ​memoization f​ ollowed by DP. So, beginning with the memoization
approach, as we want to match all the subsequences of the given two strings, we
have to figure out the number of unique recursive calls. For string s, we can make
at most ​length(s)​ recursive calls, and similarly, for string t, we can make at most
length(t)​ recursive calls, which are also dependent on each other’s solution. Hence,
our result can be directly stored in the form of a 2-dimensional array of size
(length(s)+1) * (length(t) + 1)​ as for string s, we have​ 0 to length(s) ​possible
combinations, and the same goes for string t.

So for every index ‘i’ in string ​s​ and ‘j’ in string ​t,​ we will choose one of the following
two options:

9
 1. If the character ​s[i]​ matches t​ [j]​, the length of the common subsequence
would be one plus the length of the common subsequence till the​ i-1​ and​ j-1
indexes in the two respective strings.
2. If the character​ s[i] d
​ oes not match​ t[j]​, we will take the longest subsequence
by either skipping​ i-th or j-th character f​ rom the respective strings.

Hence, the answer stored in the matrix will be the LCS of both strings when the
length of string s will be ‘i’ and the length of string t will be ‘j’.

Hence, we will get the final answer at the position ​matrix[length(s)][length(t)]​.

Moving to the code:

public int ​lcs_mem​(String s, String t, int[][] output) {

int m = s.length();
int n = t.length();

// Base case
if​(m == 0 || n == 0) {
return ​0;
}

// Check if ans already exists

if​(output[m][n] != -1) {
return ​output[m][n];
}

int ans;
// Recursive calls
if​(s[0] == t[0]) {
ans = 1 + lcs_mem(s.substring(1), t.substring(1), output);
}
else ​{
int a = lcs_mem(s.substring(1), t, output);
int b = lcs_mem(s, t.substring(1), output);
int c = lcs_mem(s.substring(1), t.substring(1), output);
ans = Math.max(a, Math.max(b, c));
}

// Save your calculation

output[m][n] = ans;

// Return ans

10
 return ​ans;
}

public int ​lcs_mem​(String s, String t) {

int m = s.length();
int n = t.length();
int[][] output = new int[m+1][n+1];
for​(int i = 0; i <= m; i++) {
for​(int j = 0; j <= n; j++) {
output[i][j] = -1; ​// Initializing the 2D array with -1
}
}
return ​lcs_mem(s, t, output);
}

Now, converting this approach into the D

​ P ​code:

public int ​lcs_DP​(String s, String t) {

int m = s.length();
int n = t.length();
​// declaring a 2D array of size m*n
int[][] output = new int[m+1][n+1];

// Fill 1st row

for​(int j = 0; j <= n; j++) { ​// as if string t is empty, then the
output[0][j] = 0; ​ /lcs(s, t) = 0
/
}

// Fill 1st col

for​(int i = 1; i <= m; i++) { ​// as if string s is empty, then the
output[i][0] = 0; ​ / lcs(s, t) = 0
/
}

for​(int i = 1; i <= m; i++) {

for​(int j = 1; j <= n; j++) {
// Check if 1st char matches
if​(s[m-i] == t[n-j]) {
output[i][j] = 1 + output[i-1][j-1];
}
else ​{
int a = output[i-1][j];
int b = output[i][j-1];

11
 int c = output[i-1][j-1];
output[i][j] = Math.max(a, Math.max(b, c));
}
}
}
return ​output[m][n]; ​// final answer
}

Time Complexity:​ We can see that the time complexity of the DP and memoization
approach is reduced to O
​ (m*n)​ where m
​ ​ and ​n​ are the lengths of the given strings.

Edit Distance

Problem statement: ​Given two strings s and t of lengths m and n respectively,

find the Edit Distance between the strings. Edit Distance of two strings is the
minimum number of steps required to make one string equal to another. To do
so, you can perform the following three operations only :

● Delete a character
● Replace a character with another one
● Insert a character

Example 1:

s1​ =
​ ​ “but”
s2 =​ “bat”
Answer: ​1
Explanation: W​ e just need to replace ‘a’ with ‘u’ to transform s2 to s1.

Example 2:

s1 =​ “cbda”
s2 =​ “abdca”
Answer: ​2
Explanation: W​ e just need to replace the first ‘a’ with ‘c’ and delete the second ‘c’.

12
Example 3:

s1 =​ “ppsspqrt”
s2 =​ “passpot”
Answer: ​3
Explanation: W ​ e just need to replace first ‘a’ with ‘p’, ‘o’ with ‘q’, and insert ‘r’.

Approach: ​Let’s think about this problem using r​ ecursion​ first. We need to apply
each of the three operations on each character of s2 to make it similar to s1 and
then find the minimum among them.

Let’s assume index1 and index2 point to the current indexes of s1 and s2
respectively, so we have two options at every step:

1. If the strings have the same character, we can recursively match for the
remaining lengths of the strings.
2. If the strings do not match, we start three new recursive calls representing
the three edit operations, as mentioned in the problem statement. Consider
the minimum count of operations among the three recursive calls.

Let’s dry run the code:

13
From here, it is clear that the time complexity is again exponential, which is O(3​m+n​),
where m and n are the lengths of the given strings.

Also, we can see the overlapping/repeated recursive calls(for example: (2,2) is one
of them), which means this problem can be further solved using m
​ emoization​.

This problem is somehow similar to the LCS problem. We will be using a similar
approach to solve this problem too. The answer to each recursive call will be stored
in a 2-Dimensional array of size (m+1)*(n+1), and the final solution will be obtained
at index (m,n) as each cell will be storing the answer for the given m length of s1
and n length of s2. Try to code it yourself.

Time Complexity: ​As there are (m+1)*(n+1) number of unique calls, hence the time
complexity becomes O(m*n), which is better than the recursive approach.

Let’s move on to the DP approach…

We have already discussed the basic requirements like output array size, final
output’s position, and the value stored at each position of the output array in the
memoization approach. We have already figured out that this problem is similar to
the LCS question. So try to code it yourself. Refer to the solution tab for the same.

14
Problem Statement: Knapsack
Given the weights and values of ‘N’ items, we are asked to put these items
in a knapsack, which has a capacity ‘C’. The goal is to get the maximum
value from the items in the knapsack. Each item can only be selected once,
as we don’t have multiple quantities of any item.

For example:

I​tems:​ {Apple, Orange, Banana, Melon}

Weights:​ {2, 3, 1, 4}
Values:​ {4, 5, 3, 7}
Knapsack capacity:​ 5

Possible combinations that satisfy the given conditions are:

Apple + Orange (total weight 5) => 9 value

Apple + Banana (total weight 3) => 7 value
Orange + Banana (total weight 4) => 8 value
Banana + Melon (total weight 5) => 10 value

This shows that B

​ anana + Melon​ is the best combination, as it gives us the
maximum value, and the total weight does not exceed the capacity.

Approach: ​First-of-all, let’s discuss the brute-force-approach, i.e., the r​ ecursive

approach​. There are two possible cases for every item, either to put that item into
the knapsack or not. If we consider that item, then its value will be contributed
towards the total value, otherwise not. To figure out the maximum value obtained
by maintaining the capacity of the knapsack, we will call recursion over these two
cases simultaneously, and then will consider the maximum value obtained out of
the two.

If we consider a particular weight ‘w’ from the array of weights with value ‘v’ and the
total capacity was ‘C’ with initial value ‘Val’, then the remaining capacity of the
knapsack becomes ‘C-w’, and the value becomes ‘Val + v’.

15
Let’s look at the recursive code for the same:

public int ​knapsack​(int[] weight, int[] values,int i, int n, int maxWeight)

{
// Base case : if the size of array is 0 or we are not able to add
// any more weight to the knapsack
if​(n == i || maxWeight == 0) {
return ​0;
}

​// If the particular weight’s value extends the limit of knapsack’s

// remaining capacity, then we have to simply skip it
if​(weight[i] > maxWeight) {
return ​knapsack(weight, values, i+1, n, maxWeight);
}

// Recursive calls
//1. Considering the weight
int x = knapsack(weight, values, i+1, n, maxWeight - weight[i]) +
values[i];
// 2. Skipping the weight and moving forward
int y = knapsack(weight, values, i+1, n, maxWeight) + values[i];

​// finally returning the maximum answer among the two

return ​Math.max(x, y);
}

Now, the memoization and DP approach is left for you to solve. For the code, refer
to the solution tab of the same. Also, figure out the time complexity for the same by
running the code over some examples and by dry running it.

16
Graphs- 1
Introduction
Ag
​ raph​ is a ​pair​ G
​ ​ = (​V​, E
​ ​), where ​V​ is a set whose elements are called ​vertices​, and
E​ is a set of two sets of vertices, whose elements are called e​ dges​.

The vertices x​ ​ and ​y​ of an edge {​ ​x,​ ​y​}​ are called the ​endpoints​ of the edge. The edge
is said to ​join​ x​ ​ and ​y​ and to be ​incident​ on ​x​ and​ ​y.​ A vertex may not belong to any
edge.

For example:​ Suppose there is a road network in a country, where we have many
cities, and roads are connecting these cities. There could be some cities that are not
connected by some other cities like an island. This structure seems to be
non-uniform, and hence, we can’t use trees to store it. In such cases, we will be
using graphs. Refer to the figure for better understanding.

1
Relationship between trees and graphs:
● A tree is a special type of graph in which we can reach any node to any other
node using some path, unlike the graphs where this condition may or may
not hold.
● A tree does not have any cycles in it whereas a graph may or may not contain
a cycle.

● A c​ yclic graph​ is a graph containing at least one ​cycle​ in a graph. If in a graph

any combination of edges form a closed or rounded circuit then we say that
there is a cycle in the graph.

Graphs Terminology
● Nodes are named v
​ ertices,​ and the connections between them are called
edges​.
● Two vertices are said to be ​adjacent i​ f there exists a direct edge connecting
them.
● The ​degree o
​ f a node is defined as the number of edges that are incident to
it.
● Ap
​ ath i​ s a collection of edges through which we can reach from one node to
the other node in a graph.
● A graph is said to be c
​ onnected​ if there is a path between every pair of
vertices.
● If the graph is not connected, then all the connected subsets of the graphs
are called c
​ onnected components​. Each component is connected within the
self, but two different components of a graph are never connected.
● The minimum number of edges in a graph can be zero, which means a graph
could have no edges as well.
● The minimum number of edges in a connected graph will be ​(N-1)​, where ​N
is the number of nodes.

2
 ● In a complete graph (where each node is connected to every other node by a
direct edge), there are N​​ C​2​ n
​ umber of edges means​ (N * (N-1)) / 2 ​edges,
where n is the number of nodes.
● This is the maximum number of edges that a graph can have.
● Hence, if an algorithm works on the terms of edges, let’s say​ O(E)​, where E
​ ​ is
the number of edges, then in the worst case, the algorithm will take O
​ (N​2​)
time, where N
​ ​ is the number of nodes.

Graphs Implementation
Suppose the graph is as follows:

There are the following ways to implement a graph:

1. Using edge list: ​We can create a class that could store an array of edges. The
array of edges will contain all the pairs that are connected, all put together in
one place. It is not preferred to check for a particular edge connecting two
nodes; we have to traverse the complete array leading to O(n​2​) time
complexity in the worst case. Pictorial representation for the above graph
using the edge list is given below:

2. Adjacency list: W
​ e will create an array of vertices, but this time, each vertex
will have its list of edges connecting this vertex to another vertex. Now to
check for a particular edge, we can take any one of the nodes and then check

3
 in its list if the target node is present or not. This will take O(n) work to figure
out a particular edge.

3. Adjacency matrix: H
​ ere, we will create a 2D array where the cell (i, j) will
denote an edge between node i and node j. It is the most reliable method to
implement a graph in terms of ease of implementation. We will be using the
same throughout the session. The major disadvantage of using the adjacency
matrix is vast space consumption compared to the adjacency list, where each
node stores only those nodes that are directly connected to them. For the
above graph, the adjacency matrix looks as follows:

4
DFS - Adjacency matrix

Here, if we have n vertices(labelled: 0 to n-1). Then we will be asking the user for the
number of edges. We will run the loop from 0 to the number of edges, and at each
iteration, we will take input for the two connected nodes and correspondingly
update the adjacency matrix. Let’s look at the code for better understanding.

public static ​void ​print​(int[][] edges, int n, int sv, boolean[] visited){
System.out.println(sv);
visited[sv] = true; ​// marked the starting vertex true
​for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){​// Running the loop over all n nodes and checking
// if there is an edge between sv and i
​if​(i==sv){
continue;
}
​if​(edges[sv][i]==1){ ​// As the edge is found, we then checked if the
// node i was visited or not
​if​(visited[i]){
​continue​;
}
print(edges, n, i, visited); ​// Otherwise, recursively called over
// node i taking it as starting vertex
}
}
}

public static void​ main(String[] args) {

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int n = s.nextInt(); ​// Number of nodes
int e = s.nextInt(); ​// Number of edges

int[][] edges = new int[n][n]; ​ / adjacency matrix of size n*n

/
​for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){
​for​(int j=0; j<n; j++){
edges[i][j]=0; ​// 0 indicates that there is no edge between i and j
}
}

​for​(int i=0; i<e; i++){

int f = s.nextInt();

5
 int s = s.nextInt(); ​// Nodes f and s having edges between them
edges[f][s]=1; ​// marking f to s as 1
edges[s][f]=1; ​// also, marking s to f as 1
}

boolean[] visited = new bool[n]; ​// this is used to keep the track
// of nodes if we have visited them or not.
​for​(int i=0; i<n; i++){
visited[i]=false; ​// Marking all nodes as false which means not visited
}

print(edges, n, 0, visited); ​// starting vertex is taken as 0

}

Let’s take an example graph:

On dry running the above code, the output will be 1 2 4 5 3.

Here, we are starting from a node, going in one direction as far as we can, and then
we return and do the same on the previous nodes. This method of graph traversal
is known as the ​depth-first search (DFS)​. As the name suggests, this algorithm

6
goes into the depth first and then recursively does the same in other directions.
Follow the figure below, for step-by-step traversal using DFS.

BFS Traversal
Breadth-first search(BFS) i​ s an algorithm where we start from the selected node
and traverse the graph level-wise or layer-wise, thus exploring the neighbor nodes
(which are directly connected to the starting node), and then moving on to the next
level neighbor nodes.

As the name suggests:

● We first move horizontally and visit all the nodes of the current layer.
● Then move to the next layer.

7
This is an iterative approach. We will use the queue data structure to store the child
nodes of the current node and then pop out the current node. This process will
continue until we have covered all the nodes. Remember to put only those nodes in
the queue which have not been visited.

Let’s look at the code below:

public​ void ​printBFS​(int[][] edges, int n, int sv, boolean[] visited) {

Queue<Integer> pendingVertices = new Queue<>(); ​// queue
pendingVertices.push(sv); ​// starting vertex directly pushed
visited[sv] = true;
while​ (!pendingVertices.empty()) { ​// until the size of queue is not 0
int currentVertex = pendingVertices.top(); ​// stored the top of queue
pendingVertices.pop(); ​// deleted that top element
System.out.print(currentVertex + ” ”);
for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { ​// now checked for its vertices
if ​(i == currentVertex) {
continue;
}
if ​(edges[currentVertex][i] == 1 && !visited[i]) {
pendingVertices.push(i);​// if found, then inserted in queue
visited[i] = true;
}
}
}
}

8
public​ void ​BFS​(int[][] edges, int n) {
boolean[] visited = new boolean[n]; ​// visited array
for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
visited[i] = false;
}

printBFS(edges, n, 0, visited); ​// starting vertex = 0

}

Consider the dry run over the example graph below for a better understanding of
the same:

9
BFS & DFS for Disconnected Graph

Till now, we have assumed that the graph is connected. For the disconnected graph,
there will be a minor change in the above codes. Just before calling out the print
functions, we will run a loop over each node and check if that node is visited or not.
If not visited, then we will call a print function over that node, considering it as the
starting vertex. In this way, we will be able to cover up all the nodes of the graph.

Consider the same for the BFS function. Just replace this function in the above code
to make it work for the disconnected graph too.

public​ void ​BFS​(int[][] edges, int n) {

boolean[] visited = new boolean[n]; ​// visited array
for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
visited[i] = false;
}

​for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { ​// run a loop over each node
​if ​(!visited[i]) { ​// if a node is not visited, then called print()
printBFS(edges, n, i, visited); ​//on it taking it as starting vtx
}
}
}

10
Has Path
Problem statement: ​Given an undirected graph G(V, E) and two vertices v1 and
v2(as integers), check if there exists any path between them or not. Print true or
false. V is the number of vertices present in graph G, and vertices are numbered
from 0 to V-1. E is the number of edges present in graph G.

Approach: ​This can be simply solved by considering the vertex v1 as the starting
vertex and then run either BFS or DFS as per your choice, and while traversing if we
reach the vertex v2, then we will simply return true, otherwise return false.

This problem has been left for you to try yourself. For code, refer to the solution tab
of the same.

Get Path - DFS

Problem statement: ​Given an undirected graph G(V, E) and two vertices v1 and
v2(as integers), find and print the path from v1 to v2 (if exists). Print nothing if
there is no path between v1 and v2. Find the path using DFS and print the first
path that you encountered irrespective of the length of the path. V is the number
of vertices present in graph G, and vertices are numbered from 0 to V-1. E is the
number of edges present in graph G. Print the path in reverse order. That is, print
v2 first, then intermediate vertices, and v1 at last.

Example: ​Suppose the given input is:

4​ ​4
0​ ​ 1
0​ ​ 3
1​ ​ 2
2​ ​ 3
1​ ​ 3

11
The output should be:

3​ ​0​ ​1

Explanation: H
​ ere, v1 = 1 and v2 = 3. The connected vertex pairs are (0, 1), (0, 3), (1,
2) and (2, 3). So, according to the question, we have to print the path from vertex v1
to v2 in reverse order using DFS only; hence the path comes out to be {3, 0, 1}.

Approach: ​We have to solve this problem by using DFS. Suppose, if the start and
end vertex are the same, then we simply need to put the start in the solution array
and return the solution array. If this is not the case, then from the start vertex, we
will call DFS on the direct connections of the same. If none of the paths leads to the
end vertex, then we do not need to push the start vertex as it is neither directly nor
indirectly connected to the end vertex, hence we will simply return NULL. In case
any of the neighbors return a non-null entry, it means that we have a path from
that neighbor to the end vertex, hence we can now insert the start vertex into the
solution array.
Try to code it yourself, and for the answer, refer to the solution tab of the same.

Get Path - BFS

Problem: I​ t is the same problem as the above, just we have to code the same
using BFS.

Approach: ​Using BFS will provide us the shortest path between the two vertices.
We will use the queue over here and do the same until the end vertex gets inserted
into the queue. Here, the problem is how to figure out the node, which led us to the
end vertex. To overcome this, we will be using a map. In the map, we will store the
resultant node as the index, and its key will be the node that led it into the queue.

12
For example:​ If the graph was such that 0 was connected to 1 and 0 was connected
to 2, and currently, we are on node 0 such that node 1 and node 2 are not visited.
So our map will look as follows:

1 0

2 0

This way, as soon as we reach the end vertex, we can figure out the nodes by
running the loop until we reach the start vertex as the key value of any node.

Try to code it yourselves, and for the solution, refer to the specific tab of the same.

Is connected?
Problem statement: ​Given an undirected graph G(V, E), check if the graph G is a
connected graph or not. V is the number of vertices present in graph G, and
vertices are numbered from 0 to V-1. E is the number of edges present in graph
G.

13
Example 1:​ Suppose the given input is:

4​ ​4
0​ ​ 1
0​ ​ 3
1​ ​ 2
2​ ​ 3
1​ ​ 3

The output should be: ​true

Explanation: A
​ s the graph is connected, so according to the question, the answer
will be true.

Example 2:​ Suppose the given input is:

4​ ​3
0​ ​ 1
1​ ​ 3
0​ ​ 3

The output should be: ​false

Explanation: T
​ he graph is not connected, even though vertices 0,1, and 3 are
connected, but there isn’t any path from vertices 0,1,3 to vertex 2. Hence, according
to the question, the answer will be false.
Approach: ​This is very start-forward. Take any vertex as the starting vertex as
traverse the graph using either DFS or BFS. In the end, check if all the vertices are
visited or not. If not, it means that the node was not connected to the starting
vertex, which means it is a disconnected graph. Otherwise, it is a connected graph.
Try to code it yourselves, and for the code, refer to the solution tab of the same.

14
Problem statement: Return all Connected Components
Given an undirected graph G(V, E), find and print all the connected components of
the given graph G. V is the number of vertices present in graph G, and vertices are
numbered from 0 to V-1. E is the number of edges present in graph G.
You need to take input in the main and create a function that should return all
the connected components. And then print them in the main, not inside a
function.
Print different components in a new line. And each component should be printed
in increasing order (separated by space). The order of different components
doesn't matter.

Example:​ Suppose the given input is:

4​ ​3
0​ ​ 1
1​ ​ 3
0​ ​ 3
The output should be:

0​ ​1​ ​3
2

Explanation: ​ As we can see that {0, 1, 3} is one connected component, and {2} is
the other one. So, according to the question, we just have to print the same.
Approach: ​For this problem, start from vertex 0 and traverse until vertex n-1. If the
vertex is not visited, then run DFS/BFS on it and keep track of all the connected
vertices through that node. This way, we will get all the distinct connected
components, and we can print them at last.
This problem is left for you to solve. For the code, refer to the solution tab of the
same.

15
Weighted and Directed Graphs

There are two more variations of the graphs:

Directed graphs: ​ These are generally required when we have one-way routes.
Suppose you can go from node A to node B, but you cannot go from node B to
node A. Another example could be social media (like Twitter) if you are following
someone, it does not mean that they are following you too.

To implement these, there is a small change in the implementation of indirect

graphs. In indirect graphs, if there was an edge between node i and j, then we did:

edges[i][j] = ​1​;
edges[j][i] = 1​ ​;
But, in the case of a directed graph, we will just do the following:

edges[i][j] = ​1​;

16
Weighted graphs: T
​ hese generally mean that all the edges are not equal, which
means somehow, each edge has some weight assigned to it. This weight can be the
length of the road connecting the cities or many more.

To implement this, in the edges matrix, we will assign a weight to connected nodes
instead of putting it 1 at that position. For example: If node i and j are connected,
and the weight of the edge connecting them is 5, then​ e
​ dges[i][j] = ​5​.

17
Graphs- 2
MST(Minimum Spanning Tree) & Kruskal’s Algorithm
As discussed earlier, a tree is a graph, which:
● Is always connected.
● Contains no cycle.

If we are given an undirected and connected graph, a s​ panning tree ​means a tree
that contains all the vertices of the same. For a given graph, we can have multiple
spanning trees.

Refer to the example below for a better understanding of spanning trees.

If there are ​n​ vertices and ​e​ edges in the graph, then any spanning tree
corresponding to that graph contains ​n​ vertices and ​n-1​ edges.

1
Properties of spanning trees:
● A connected and undirected graph can have more than one spanning tree.
● The spanning tree is free of loops, i.e., it is acyclic.
● Removing any one of the edges will make the graph disconnected.
● Adding an extra edge to the spanning tree will create a loop in the graph.

Minimum Spanning Tree(MST) i​ s a spanning tree with weighted edges.

In a weighted graph, the MST is a spanning tree with minimum weight than all other
spanning trees of that graph. Refer to the image below for better understanding.

2
Kruskal’s Algorithm:
This algorithm is used to find MST for the given graph. It builds the spanning tree by
adding edges one at a time. We start by picking the edge with minimum weight,
adding that edge into the MST, and increasing the count of edges in the spanning
tree by one. Now, we will be picking the minimum weighted edge by excluding the
already chosen ones and correspondingly increasing the count. While choosing the
edge, we will also make sure that the graph remains acyclic after including the
same. This process will continue until the count of edges in the MST reaches n
​ -1​.
Ultimately, the graph obtained will be MST.

Refer to the example below for a better understanding of the same.

3
This is the final MST obtained using Kruskal’s algorithm. It can be checked manually
that the final graph is the MST for the given graph.

Cycle Detection
While inserting a new edge in the MST, we have to check if introducing that edge
makes the MST cyclic or not. If not, then we can include that edge, otherwise not.

Now, let’s figure out a way to detect the cycle in a graph. The following are the
possible cases:

● By including an edge between the nodes A and B, if both nodes A and B are
not present in the graph, then it is safe to include that edge as including it,
will not bring a cycle to the graph.
● Out of two vertices, if any one of them has not been visited (or not present in
the MST), then that vertex can also be included in the MST.
● If both the vertices are already present in the graph, they can introduce a
cycle in the MST. It means we can’t use this method to detect the presence of
the cycle.
Let’s think of a better approach. We have already solved the h
​ asPath ​question in
the previous module, which returns true if there is a path present between two
vertices v1 and v2, otherwise false.

4
Now, before adding an edge to the MST, we will check if a path between two
vertices of that edge already exists in the MST or not. If not, then it is safe to add
that edge to the MST.

As discussed in previous lectures, the time complexity of the h

​ asPath ​function is
O(E+V), where E is the number of edges in the graph and, V is the number of
vertices. So, for (n-1) edges, this function will run (n-1) times, leading to bad time
complexity, as in the worst case, E = V​2​.

Now, moving on to a better approach for cycle detection in the graph.

Union-Find Algorithm:
Before adding any edge to the graph, we will check if the two vertices of the edge lie
in the same component of MST or not. If not, then it is safe to add that edge to the
MST.

Following the steps of the algorithm:

● We will assume that initially, the total number of disjoint sets is equal to the
number of vertices in the graph starting from 0 to n-1.
● We will maintain a parent array specifying the parent vertex of each of the
vertex of the graph. Initially, as each vertex belongs to a different disjoint set
(connected component), hence each vertex will be its parent.
● Now, before inserting any edge into the MST, we will check the parent of the
vertices. If their parent vertices are equal, they belong to the same connected
component; hence it is unsafe to add that edge.
● Otherwise, we can add that edge into the MST, and simultaneously update
the parent array so that they belong to the same component(Refer to the
code on how to do so).

Look at the following example, for better understanding:

5
6
7
Note: W
​ hile finding the parent of the vertex, we will be finding the topmost parent
(Oldest Ancestor). For example: suppose, the vertex 0 and the vertex 1 were
connected, where the parent of 0 is 1, and the parent of 1 is 1. Now, while
determining the parent of the vertex 0, we will visit the parent array and check the
vertex at index 0. In our case, it is 1. Now we will go to index 1 and check the parent
of index 1, which is also 1. Hence, we can’t go any further as the index is the parent
of itself. This way, we will be determining the parent of any vertex.

The time complexity of the union-find algorithm becomes O(V) for each vertex in
the worst case due to skewed-tree formation, where V is the number of vertices in
the graph. Here, we can see that time complexity for cycle detection has
significantly improved compared to the previous approach.

8
Kruskal’s Algorithm: Implementation
Till now, we have studied the logic behind Kruskal’s algorithm for finding MST. Now,
let’s discuss how to implement it in code.

Consider the code below and follow the comments for a better understanding.

class ​Edge { ​// Class that store values for each vertex
int source;
int dest;
int weight;
}

class​ ​Sortbyweight implements​ ​Comparator<Edge> {

public​ ​int​ ​compare​(Edge a, Edgeb){
​return​ ​a.weight - b.weight;
}
}

class ​Main{

​public static ​int ​findParent​(int v, int[] parent) {

// Function to find the parent of a vertex
if ​(parent[v] == v) { ​// Base case, when a vertex is parent of itself
return ​v;
}
​// Recursively called to find the topmost parent of the vertex.
return ​findParent(parent[v], parent);
}

​public static v
​ oid ​kruskals​(Edge[] input, int n, int E) {
sort(input, new Sortbyweight()); ​// In-built sort function:
// Sorts the edges in increasing order of their weights

Edge[] output = new Edge[n-1]; ​// Array to store final edges of MST
int[] parent = new int[n];

//Parent arr initialized with their indexes

for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
parent[i] = i;
}

int count = 0; ​//To maintain the count of number of edges in the MST
int i = 0; ​// Index to traverse over the input array
while ​(count != n - 1) { ​// As the MST contains n-1 edges.
Edge currentEdge = input[i];

9
 // Figuring out the parent of each edge’s vertices
int sourceParent = findParent(currentEdge.source, parent);
int destParent = findParent(currentEdge.dest, parent);
​// If their parents not equal, then we added that edge to output
if​(sourceParent != destParent) {
output[count] = currentEdge;
count++; ​// Increased the count
parent[sourceParent] = destParent;​//Updated parent array
}
i++;
}
// Finally, printing the MST obtained.
for ​(int i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {
if​(output[i].source < output[i].dest) {
System.out.println(output[i].source + “ ” +
output[i].dest + “ ” + output[i].weight);
}
​else​ {
System.out.println(output[i].dest + “ ” +
output[i].source + “ ” + output[i].weight);
}
}
}

​public​ ​static​ ​void​ ​main ​(String[] args){

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int n = s.nextInt();
int E = s.nextInt();

Edge[] input = new Edge[E];

for ​(int i = 0; i < E; i++) {

int s = s.nextInt();
int d = s.nextInt();
int w = s.nextInt();
input[i].source = s;
input[i].dest = d;
input[i].weight = w;
}

kruskals(input, n, E);
}

10
Time Complexity of Kruskal’s Algorithm:
In our code, we have the following three steps: (Here, the total number of vertices is
n, and the total number of edges is E)
● Take input in the array of size E.
● Sort the input array based on edge-weight. This step has the time complexity
of O(E log(E)).
● Pick (n-1) edges and put them in MST one-by-one. Also, before adding the
edge to the MST, we checked for cycle detection for each edge. For cycle
detection, in the worst-case time complexity of E edges will be O(E.n), as
discussed earlier.
Hence, the total time complexity of Kruskal’s algorithm becomes O(E log(E) + n.E).
This time complexity is bad and needs to be improved.
We can’t reduce the time taken for sorting, but the time taken for cycle detection
can be improved using another algorithm named U
​ nion by Rank and Path
Compression​. You need to explore this on yourselves. The basic idea in these
algorithms is that we will be avoiding the formation of skewed-tree structure, which
reduces the time complexity for each vertex to O(log(E)).

Prim’s Algorithm
This algorithm is used to find MST for a given undirected-weighted graph (which
can also be achieved using Kruskal’s Algorithm).

In this algorithm, the MST is built by adding one edge at a time. In the beginning,
the spanning tree consists of only one vertex, which is chosen arbitrarily from the
set of all vertices of the graph. Then the minimum weighted edge, outgoing from
this vertex, is selected and simultaneously inserted into the MST. Now, the tree
contains two edges. Further, we will be selecting the edge with the minimum weight
such that one end is already present there in the MST and the other one from the

11
unselected set of vertices. This process is repeated until we have inserted a total of
(n-1) edges in the MST.

Consider the following example for a better understanding.

Implementation:
● We are considering the starting vertex to be 0 with a parent equal to -1, and
weight is equal to 0 (The weight of the edge from vertex 0 to vertex 0 itself).
● The parent of all other vertices is assumed to be NIL, and the weight will be
equal to infinity, which means that the vertex has not been visited yet.
● We will mark the vertex 0 as visited and the rest as unvisited. If we add any
vertex to the MST, then that vertex will be shifted from the unvisited section
to the visited section.

12
 ● Now, we will update the weights of direct neighbors of vertex 0 with the edge
weights as these are smaller than infinity. We will also update the parent of
these vertices and assign them 0 as we reached these vertices from vertex 0.
● This way, we will keep updating the weights and parents, according to the
edge, which has the minimum weight connected to the respective vertex.
Let’s look at the code now:

public static ​int ​findMinVertex​(int[] weights, boolean[] visited, int n) {

int minVertex = -1; ​//-1 means there is no vertex till now

for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
// Conditions:the vertex must be unvisited and either minVertex value
// is -1 or if minVertex has some vertex to it, then weight of
// currentvertex should be less than the weight of the minVertex.
if ​(!visited[i] && (minVertex == -1 || weights[i] <
weights[minVertex])) {
minVertex = i;
}
}
return ​minVertex;
}

public static ​void prims(int[][] edges, int n) {

int[] parent = new int[n];

int[] weights = new int[n];
boolean[] visited = new boolean[n];
// Initially, the visited array is assigned to false and weights
// array to infinity.
for​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
visited[i] = false;
weights[i] = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
}
// Values assigned to vertex 0.(the selected starting vertex to begin
// with)
parent[0] = -1;
weights[0] = 0;

for ​(int i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {

// Find min vertex
int minVertex = findMinVertex(weights, visited, n);
visited[minVertex] = true;
// Explore unvisited neighbors
for ​(int j = 0; j < n; j++) {

13
 if​(edges[minVertex][j] != 0 && !visited[j]) {
if​(edges[minVertex][j] < weights[j]) {
​// updating weight array and parent array
weights[j] = edges[minVertex][j];
parent[j] = minVertex;
}
}
}
}
// Final MST printed
for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if ​(parent[i] < i) {
System.out.println(parent[i] + “ ” + i + “ ” + weights[i]);
}
else ​{
System.out.println(i + “ ” + parent[i] + “ ” + weights[i]);
}
}
}

public​ ​static​ ​void​ ​main ​(String[] args){

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int n = s.nextInt();
int e = s.nextInt();

int[][] edges = new int[n][n]; ​//Adjacency matrix to store the graph

for​ (int i = 0; i < e; i++) {

int f = s.nextInt();
int s = s.nextInt();
int weight = s.nextInt();
edges[f][s] = weight;
edges[s][f] = weight;
}

prims(edges, n);
}

Time Complexity of Prim’s Algorithm:

Here, n is the number of vertices, and E is the number of edges.

14
 ● The time complexity for finding the minimum weighted vertex is O(n) for
each iteration. So for (n-1) edges, it becomes O(n​2​).
● Similarly, for exploring the neighbor vertices, the time taken is O(n​2​).

It means the time complexity of Prim’s algorithm is O(n​2​). We can improve this in
the following ways:

● For exploring neighbors, we are required to visit every vertex because of the
adjacency matrix. We can improve this by using an adjacency list instead of a
matrix.
● Now, the second important thing is the time taken to find the minimum
weight vertex, which is also taking a time of O(n​2​). Here, out of the available
list, we are trying to figure out the one with minimum weight. This can be
optimally achieved using a p
​ riority queue​ where the priority will be taken as
weights of the vertices. This will take O(log(n)) time complexity to remove a
vertex from the priority queue.

These optimizations can lead us to the time complexity of O((n+E)log(n)), which is

much better than the earlier one. Try to write the optimized code by yourself.

Dijkstra’s Algorithm
This algorithm is used to find the shortest distance between any two vertices in a
weighted non-cyclic graph.

Here, we will be using a slight modification of the algorithm according to which we

will be figuring out the minimum distance of all the vertices from the particular
source vertex.

Let’s consider the algorithm with an example:

1. We want to calculate the shortest path between the source vertex C and all
other vertices in the following graph.

15
 2. While executing the algorithm, we will mark every node with its m
​ inimum
distance ​to the selected node, which is C in our case. Obviously, for node C
itself, this distance will be 0, and for the rest of the nodes, we will assume
that the distance is infinity, which also denotes that these vertices have not
been visited till now.

16
 3. Now, we will check for the neighbors of the current node, which are A, B, and
D. Now, we will add the minimum cost of the current node to the weight of
the edge connecting the current node and the particular neighbor node. For
example, for node B, it’s weight will become minimum(infinity, 0+7) = 7. This
same process is repeated for other neighbor nodes.

4. Now, as we have updated the distance of all the neighbor nodes of the
current node, we will mark the current node as visited.

17
 5. After this, we will be selecting the minimum weighted node among the
remaining vertices. In this case, it is node A. Take this node as the current
node.
6. Now, we will repeat the above steps for the rest of the vertices. The pictorial
representation of the same is shown below:

18
 7. Finally, we will get the graph as follows:

19
The distances finally marked at each node are minimum from node C.

20
Implementation:
Let’s look at the code below for a better explanation:(Code is nearly same as that of
Prim’s algorithm, just a change while updating the distance)

public static​ int ​findMinVertex​(int[] distance, boolean[] visited, int n) {

int minVertex = -1;

for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if ​(!visited[i] && (minVertex== -1 || distance[i]<distance[minVertex])){
minVertex = i;
}
}
return ​minVertex;
}

public static​ void ​dijkstra​(int[][] edges, int n) {

int[] distance = new int[n];

boolean[] visited = new boolean[n];

for​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {

visited[i] = false;
distance[i] = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
}

distance[0] = 0; ​// 0 is considered as the starting node.

for ​(int i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {

// Find min vertex
int minVertex = findMinVertex(distance, visited, n);
visited[minVertex] = true;
// Explore unvisited neighbors
for ​(int j = 0; j < n; j++) {
if​(edges[minVertex][j] != 0 && !visited[j]) {
​// distance of any node will be the current node’s distance + the
// weight of the edge between them
int dist = distance[minVertex] + edges[minVertex][j];
if​(dist < distance[j]) { ​// If required, then updated.
distance[j] = dist;
}
}
}
}
// Final output of distance of each node with respect to 0
for ​(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {

21
 System.out.println(i + “ ” + distance[i]);
}
}

public​ ​static​ ​void​ ​main ​(String[] args){

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
int n = s.nextInt();
int e = s.nextInt();

int[][] edges = new int[n][n]; ​//Adjacency matrix to store the graph

for​ (int i = 0; i < e; i++) {

int f = s.nextInt();
int s = s.nextInt();
int weight = s.nextInt();
edges[f][s] = weight;
edges[s][f] = weight;
}

dijkstra(edges, n);
}

Time Complexity of Dijkstra’s algorithm:

The time complexity is also the same as that of Prim’s algorithm, i.e.,​ O(n​2​)​. This can
be reduced by using the same approaches as discussed in Prim’s algorithm’s
content.

22
OOPs - 4

Introduction

In this lecture we will try to create game logics by playing around different classes.
We will create a Tic-Tac-Toe game and we will discuss Othello game. It will be a java
console application. You can refer to course videos to understand the game rules.

Tic-Tac-Toe
In this game, two players will be played and you have one print board on the screen
where from 1 to 9 numbers will be displayed or you can say it box number. Now,
you have to choose X or O for the specific box number. For example, if you have to
select any number then for X or O will be shown on the print board, and turn for
next will be there. The task is to create a Java program to implement a 3×3
Tic-Tac-Toe game for two players.

How to Play the Game :

● Both the players choose either ​X​ or O

​ ​ to mark their cells.
● There will be a 3×3 grid with numbers assigned to each of the 9 cells.
● The player who chose X
​ ​ begins to play first.
● He enters the cell number where he wishes to place X
​ ​.
● Now, both ​O a
​ nd ​X​ play alternatively until any one of the two wins.
● Winning criteria: Whenever any of the two players has fully filled one
row/ column/ diagonal with his symbol (X/ O), he wins and the game ends.

1
 ● If neither of the two players wins, the game is said to have ended in a
draw​.

Let us now code this game

Board class
public class Board​ {
private char board[][];
private int boardSize = 3;
private char p1Symbol, p2Symbol;
private int count;
public final static int PLAYER_1_WINS = 1;
public final static int PLAYER_2_WINS = 2;
public final static int DRAW = 3;
public final static int INCOMPLETE = 4;
public final static int INVALID = 5;

public Board​(char p1Symbol, char p2Symbol){

board = new char[boardSize][boardSize];
for​(int i =0; i < boardSize; i++){
for​(int j =0; j < boardSize; j++){
board[i][j] = ' ';
}
}
this.p1Symbol = p1Symbol;
this.p2Symbol = p2Symbol;
}
public ​int ​move​(char symbol, int x, int y) {

if​(x < 0 || x >= boardSize || y < 0 || y >= boardSize ||

board[x][y] != ' '){
return ​INVALID;
}

board[x][y] = symbol;
count++;
// Check Row
if​(board[x][0] == board[x][1] && board[x][0] == board[x][2]){

2
 return ​symbol == p1Symbol ? PLAYER_1_WINS :PLAYER_2_WINS;
}
// Check Col
if​(board[0][y] == board[1][y] && board[0][y] == board[2][y]){
return ​symbol == p1Symbol ? PLAYER_1_WINS :PLAYER_2_WINS;
}
// First Diagonal
if​(board[0][0] != ' ' && board[0][0] == board[1][1] &&
board[0][0] == board[2][2]){
return ​symbol == p1Symbol ? PLAYER_1_WINS :PLAYER_2_WINS;
}
// Second Diagonal
if​(board[0][2] != ' ' && board[0][2] == board[1][1] &&
board[0][2] == board[2][0]){
return ​symbol == p1Symbol ? PLAYER_1_WINS :PLAYER_2_WINS;
}
if​(count == boardSize * boardSize){
return ​DRAW;
}
return ​ INCOMPLETE;

}
public ​void ​print​() {
System.out.println("---------------");
for​(int i =0; i < boardSize; i++){
for​(int j =0; j < boardSize; j++){
System.out.print("| " + board[i][j] + " |");
}
System.out.println();
}
System.out.println();
System.out.println("---------------");
}
}

3
Player class
public class Player​ {

private String name;

private char symbol;

public Player​(String name, char symbol){

setName(name);
setSymbol(symbol);
}

public ​void ​setName​(String name) {

if​(!name.isEmpty()) {
this.name = name;
}
}

public ​String ​getName​() {

return ​this.name;
}

public ​void ​setSymbol​(char symbol) {

if​(symbol != '\0') {
this.symbol = symbol;
}
}

public ​char ​getSymbol​() {

return ​this.symbol;
}
}

4
TicTacToe class (Main class)
import java.util.Scanner;

public class TicTacToe ​{

private Player player1, player2;
private Board board;

public ​static void ​main​(String args[]){

TicTacToe t = new TicTacToe();
t.startGame();
}

public ​void ​startGame​(){

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
// Players input
player1 = takePlayerInput(1);
player2 = takePlayerInput(2);
while​(player1.getSymbol() == player2.getSymbol()){
System.out.println("Symbol Already taken !! Pick another
symbol !!");
char symbol = s.next().charAt(0);
player2.setSymbol(symbol);
}
// Create Board
board = new Board(player1.getSymbol(), player2.getSymbol());
// Conduct the Game
boolean player1Turn = true;
int status = Board.INCOMPLETE;
while​(status == Board.INCOMPLETE || status == Board.INVALID){
if​(player1Turn){
System.out.println("Player 1 - " +
player1.getName() + "'s turn");
System.out.println("Enter x: ");
int x = s.nextInt();
System.out.println("Enter y: ");
int y = s.nextInt();
status = board.move(player1.getSymbol(), x, y);
if​(status != Board.INVALID){
player1Turn = false;
board.print();
}​else​{
System.out.println("Invalid Move!Try Again");

5
 }
}​else​{
System.out.println("Player 2 - " +
player2.getName() + "'s turn");
System.out.println("Enter x: ");
int x = s.nextInt();
System.out.println("Enter y: ");
int y = s.nextInt();
status = board.move(player2.getSymbol(), x, y);
if​(status != Board.INVALID){
player1Turn = true;
board.print();
}​else​{
System.out.println("Invalid Move! Try Again");
}
}
}

if​(status == Board.PLAYER_1_WINS){
System.out.println("Player 1 - " + player1.getName() +"
wins !!");
}​else if​(status == Board.PLAYER_2_WINS){
System.out.println("Player 2 - " + player2.getName() +"
wins !!");
}​else​{
System.out.println("Draw !!");
}
}

private ​Player ​takePlayerInput​(int num){

Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Enter Player " + num + " name: ");
String name = s.nextLine();
System.out.println("Enter Player " + num + " symbol: ");
char symbol = s.next().charAt(0);
Player p = new Player(name, symbol);
return ​p;
}
}

6
Othello

Refer to course videos for better understanding of the game.

Othello is a board game and you are expected to implement the move function for
this game.

Approach: ​We have eight different directions to explore before we make a move
(before we make changes to the board) to ensure which all boxes will toggle. We
will move in every direction one by one and check for the player’s value who just
made his turn. We will then toggle the desired boxes, which the current player
secured by playing in that position. To explore all eight directions we can create
arrays for different directions and looping in the board we can increment or
decrement in respective value to move in the particular direction, like we explore
ways in backtracking lecture for rat in a maze game.

Now this code can be written on your own. R

​ efer to the solution tab for the
solution.

7
Backtracking
Introduction
● Ab
​ acktracking​ algorithm is a problem-solving algorithm that uses a brute
force approach for finding the desired output.
● The Brute force approach tries out all the possible solutions and chooses the
desired/best solutions.
● The term​ backtracking ​suggests that if the current solution is not suitable,
then backtrack and try other solutions. Thus, recursion is used in this
approach.
● This approach is used to solve problems that have multiple solutions.
● Backtracking is thus a form of recursion.
● We begin by choosing an option and backtrack from it, if we reach a state
where we conclude that this specified option does not give the required
solution.
● We repeat these steps by going across each available option until we get the
desired solution.

There are three types of problems in backtracking:

● Decision Problem:​ In this, we search for a feasible solution
● Optimization Problem:​ In this, we search for the best solution
● Enumeration Problem:​ In this, we find all feasible solutions

Difference between Recursion and Backtracking

In recursion, the function calls itself until it reaches a base case. In backtracking, we
use recursion to explore all the possibilities until we get the best result for the
problem.

1
Problem Statement: N-Queen
One of the most common examples of the backtracking is to arrange N queens on
an NxN chessboard such that no queen can strike down any other queen. A queen
can attack horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
The solution to this problem is also attempted using Backtracking.
● We first place the first queen anywhere arbitrarily and then place the next
queen in any of the safe places.
● We continue this process until the number of unplaced queens becomes
zero (a solution is found) or no safe place is left.
● If no safe place is left, then we change the position of the previously placed
queen.

● The above picture shows an NxN chessboard and we have to place N queens
on it. So, we will start by placing the first queen.

2
 ● Now, the second step is to place the second queen in a safe position and
then the third queen.

● Now, you can see that there is no safe place where we can put the last
queen. So, we will just change the position of the previous queen. And this is
backtracking.
● Also, there is no other position where we can place the third queen so we will
go back one more step and change the position of the second queen.

3
 ● And now we will place the third queen again in a safe position until we find a
solution.

● We will continue this process and finally, we will get the solution as shown
below.

4
As now you have understood backtracking, let us now code the above problem of
placing N queens on an NxN chessboard using the backtracking method.

public static boolean ​check_possible​(int i, int j, int n){

​//checking if there is a queen in row or column
​for(​int k=0; k<n; k++​){
​if​ (board[i][k]==​1​ ​||​ board[k][j]==​1​)
​return​ ​true;
}
​//checking diagonals
​for(​int k=0; k<n; k++​){
​for(​int l=0; l<n; l++​){
​if​((k+l==i+j) ​|| ​(k-l==i-j)){
​if​(board[k][l]==​1​)
​return​ ​true;
}
}
}
​return​ ​false;
}

public static boolean ​N_queen​(int n){

​//if n is 0, solution found
​if​ (n==​0​)
​return​ ​true;
​for(​int i=0; i<nl i++​){
​for(​int j=0; j<n j++​){
​/*checking if we can place a queen here or not
queen will not be placed if the place is being attacked
or already occupied*/
​if​ (​!​(check_possible(i,j, n))) ​&& ​(board[i][j]!=​1​){
board[i][j] = ​1;
​//recursion
​//check if we can put a queen in this arrangement
​if​ (N_queen(n​-1​)==​true​)
​return​ ​true;
board[i][j] = ​0;

5
 }
​ eturn​ f
r ​ alse;
}

Explanation of the code

● check_possible(int i,int j) ​→ This is a function to check if the cell (i,j) is
under attack by any other queen or not. We are just checking if there is any
other queen in the row ‘i’ or column ‘j’. Then we are checking if there is any
queen on the diagonal cells of the cell (i,j) or not. Any cell (k,l) will be diagonal
to the cell (i,j) if k+l is equal to i+j or k-l is equal to i-j.
● N_queen​ → This is the function where we are implementing the backtracking
algorithm.
● if​(n==​0​) ​→ If there is no queen left, it means all queens are placed and we
have got a solution.
​ We are just
● if((!check_possible(i,j)) && (board[i][j]!=​1​))​ →
checking if the cell is available to place a queen or not. check_possible
function will check if the cell is under attack by any other queen and
board[i][j]!=​1​ is making sure that the cell is vacant. If these conditions are
met then we can put a queen in the cell – b
​ oard[i][j] = ​1​.
● if(N_queen(n​-1​)==​1​)​ → Now, we are calling the function again to place the
remaining queens and this is where we are doing backtracking. If this
function (for placing the remaining queen) is not true, then we are just
changing our current move –​ ​board[i][j] = ​0​ and the loop will place the
queen in some other position this time.

Another Example: Rat in A Maze

Go through the given blog to get a deeper understanding of the R
​ at in A Maze
Problem:

https://www.codingninjas.com/blog/2020/09/02/backtracking-rat-in-a-maze/

6
Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS-3)

What you will learn in this lecture?

● Important keywords and their use.

● Abstraction.
● Interfaces.

Final Keyword

● When a variable is declared with a final keyword, its value can’t be modified,
essentially, a constant. This also means that you must initialize a final
variable.
● If the final variable is a reference, this means that the variable cannot be
re-bound to reference another object, but the internal state of the object
pointed by that reference variable can be changed i.e. you can add or
remove elements from the final array or final list.

● Final keywords can be used to initialise constants.

Initializing a final variable:

final ​int ​{name_of_variable}​ = ​{value}​;

Example:

final ​int ​pi​ = ​3.14​;

1
Refer to the course videos to see the use case and more about the final keyword.

Abstract Classes
An abstract class can be considered as a blueprint for other classes. Abstract
classes are classes that contain one or more abstract methods. An abstract method
is a method that has a declaration but does not have an implementation. This set of
methods must be created within any child classes which inherit from the abstract
class. A
​ class that contains one or more abstract methods is called an ​abstract class​.

Creating Abstract Classes in Java

● By default, Java does not provide abstract classes.
● A method becomes abstract when decorated with the keyword ​abstract​.
● An abstract class cannot be directly instantiated i.e. we cannot create an
object of the abstract class.
● However, the subclasses of an abstract class that have definitions for all the
abstract methods declared in the abstract class, can be instantiated.
● While declaring abstract methods in the class, it is not mandatory to use the
abstract​ decorator (i.e it would not throw an exception). However, it is
considered a good practice to use it as it notifies the compiler that the user
has defined an abstract method.

The given Java code uses the A

​ BC​ class and defines an abstract base class:

​abstract class​ ABC{

​ ​int value;
​Abstract int​ ​do_something​(){ ​//Our abstract method declaration
// ​TO_DO
}
}

2
We will do it in the following example, in which we define two classes inheriting
from our abstract class:

class​ ​add​ extends ABC{

​int ​do_something​(){
​return​ value + ​42;
}
}

class​ ​mul​ extends ABC{

​int ​do_something​(){
​return​ value * ​42;
}
}

class​ ​Test​{
​public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
add x = new add(​10​);
mul y = new mul(​10​);

System.out.println(x.do_something());
System.out.println(y.do_something());
}
}

We get the output as:

52
420

Thus, we can observe that a class that is derived from an abstract class cannot be
instantiated unless all of its abstract methods are overridden.

Note: C
​ oncrete classes contain only concrete (normal) methods whereas abstract
classes may contain both concrete methods and abstract methods.

● An abstract method can have an implementation in the abstract class.

3
 ● However, even if they are implemented, this implementation shall be
overridden in the subclasses.
● If you wish to invoke the method definition from the abstract superclass, the
abstract method can be invoked with ​super()​ call mechanism. (​Similar to
cases of “normal” inheritance​).
● Similarly, we can even have concrete methods in the abstract class that can
be invoked using s
​ uper()​ call. Since these methods are not abstract it is not
necessary to provide their implementation in the subclasses.
● Consider the given example:

abstract class​ ABC{

abstract ​int ​do_something​(){ ​//Abstract Method

System.out.println(​"Abstract Class AbstractMethod"​);
}

​int​ ​do_something2​(){ ​//Concrete Method

System.out.println(​"Abstract Class ConcreteMethod"​);
}
}

class​ ​AnotherSubclass​ extends ABC{

​int​ ​do_something​(){
​//Invoking the Abstract method from super class
super().do_something();
}

​//No concrete method implementation in subclass

}

class​ ​Test​{
​public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
AnotherSubclass x = new AnotherSubclass()
x.do_something() ​//calling abstract method
x.do_something2() ​//Calling concrete method

4
 }
}

We will get the output as:

Abstract Class AbstractMethod

Abstract Class ConcreteMethod

Another Example
The given code shows another implementation of an abstract class.

// Java program showing how an abstract class works

abstract ​class​ ​Animal​{ ​//Abstract Class
abstract ​move​();
}

class​ ​Human​ extends Animal{ ​//Subclass 1

​void​ ​move​(){
System.out.println(​"I can walk and run"​);
}
}

class​ ​Snake​ extends Animal{ ​//Subclass 2

​void​ ​move​(){
System.out.println(​"I can crawl"​)
}

class​ ​Dog​ extends Animal{ ​//Subclass 3

​void​ ​move​(){
System.out.println(​"I can bark"​)
}
}

// Driver code

5
 class​ ​Test​{
​public static void​ main(String[] args)​ {
Animal R = new Human();
R.move();
Animal K = Snake();
K.move();
R = Dog();
R.move();
}
}

We will get the output as:

I can walk and run

I can crawl
I can bark

Interfaces

An interface is a reference type in Java. It is similar to class. It is a collection of

abstract methods. A class implements an interface, thereby inheriting the abstract
methods of the interface.

Writing an interface is similar to writing a class. But a class describes the attributes
and behaviors of an object. And an interface contains behaviors that a class
implements.

An interface is different from a class in several ways:

● You cannot instantiate an interface.

● An interface does not contain any constructors.
● All of the methods in an interface are abstract.
● An interface cannot contain instance fields. The only fields that can appear in an
interface must be declared both static and final.

6
 ● An interface is not extended by a class; it is implemented by a class.
● An interface can extend multiple interfaces.

Declaring Interface

public ​interface ​Name_of_interface ​{

// body
}

Example:

public ​interface ​VehicleInterface ​{

public final static double PI = 3.14;

public int ​getMaxSpeed​();

public void ​print​();
}

Now we need to implement this interface using a different class. A class uses the
implements keyword to implement an interface. The i​ mplements k
​ eyword appears
in the class declaration following the extends portion of the declaration.

public ​class ​Vehicle ​implements ​CarInterface​{

@Override
public ​void ​print​() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
// We can implement this function further.
}

@Override
public ​int ​getMaxSpeed​() {

7
 // TODO Auto-generated method stub
return ​0;
}

@Override
public ​String ​getCompany​() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
return ​null;
}
}

@​Override​ annotation informs the compiler that the element is meant to ​override
an element declared in an interface.

We can implement the given overridden functions and instantiate an object of

Vehicle class.