Data Structures

<Lecture 4: Time Complexity and Recursion>

Sungmin Cha
New York University

09.16.2024
 Outline
• Notice

• Review the previous lecture

• Time complexity of algorithm

• Recursion

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 Outline
• Notice

• Review the previous lecture

• Time complexity of algorithm

• Recursion

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 Notice
• There will be 1-2 programming problems in each lab
– Deadline: 12PM next Monday
 Late submission: 12PM next Tuesday (penalty: 50% of your score)
– I will upload the solution code and hidden test cases
every Wednesday (before the lecture)
– Please upload your questions to Ed discussion
 If you send an email to me, the response would be late

• On Wednesday, HW1 will be posted!

– I will introduce details of it in the next lecture

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 Outline
• Notice

• Review the previous lecture

• Time complexity of algorithm

• Recursion

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 Review the previous lecture
• Several examples of memory allocation of variables
– Primitive and reference variable
– Stack and Heap memory

• JAVA uses pass-by-value

– The function parameter values are copied to another variable
and then the copied object is passed to the function.
– For primitive variables, the real value is stored in the Stack
 As a result, it sends the copied real value to the function
– In the case of reference variables, the actual location of the
object allocated in the Heap is stored in the Stack
 Hence, it sends the copied location of the object to the function
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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– What happens in memory for swap function? Stack

How to swap num1

and num2?

main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 2.1718
3.1415 2.1718
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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– Let’s make a simple function that swaps a value in two floating-
point variables.
– Goal
1. Take two inputs of the actual number and save them into a variable
2. Print a value saved in the variable
3. Apply swap function
4. Print a value saved in the variable
– Hints
 Using other types of variable
 Using a primitive variable but applying a trick based on the
characteristic of local variable in Stack memory

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 2.1718

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

swap
d1 = 2.1718
d2 = ?

main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 2.1718

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

swap
d1 = 2.1718
d2 = ?

main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 3.1415

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

swap
d1 = 2.1718
d2 = 3.1415

main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 3.1415

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

swap
d1 = 2.1718
d2 = 3.1415

return
main
num1 = 3.1415
num2 = 3.1415

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

main
num1 = 2.1718
num2 = 3.1415

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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– The simple solution using a trick Stack

main
num1 = 2.1718
num2 = 3.1415

2.1718 3.1415
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 Review the previous lecture
• Example 3: swap function
– Using array
 array == reference variable

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 Outline
• Review the previous lecture

• Time complexity

• Recursion

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 Time Complexity
• What is the condition of a good algorithm?
– In most cases, a good algorithm is one that utilizes resources
effectively
– Resources: time, memory, network bandwidth, etc.
 In Data Structures and Algorithm classes, time is considered as the most
important resource.

• How can we express algorithm execution time?

– Actual running time (e.g., sec)?
 It depends on hardware, OS, the size of inputs, etc.
– The algorithm execution time is expressed in terms of how long
it takes relative to the size of the input (n).
 Asymptotic Running Time
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 Time Complexity
• Asymptotic Running Time
– In other words, it is time complexity
– The primary method for expressing time complexity is Big-O
 𝚶(): asymptotic upper bound
 Ω(): asymptotic lower bound You will learn them
 Θ(): asymptotic tight bound during the Algorithm class

Figure from this link 19

 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 1:

– For the input size of n, what is the time complexity?

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 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 2:

– For the input size of n, what is the time complexity?

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 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 3:

– For the input size of n,

what is the time complexity?

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 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 4:

– For the input size of n, what is the running time?

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 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 5:

– For the input size of n, what is the running time?

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 Time Complexity
• What is the worst-case time complexity (Big-O)?
– Example 6:

– For the input size of n, what is the running time?

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 Time Complexity
• Big-O notation considers only the highest-order term
– Why?

n 𝒏𝟐 𝒏𝟐 − 𝟐𝒏 𝒏𝟐 − 𝟐𝒏 + 𝟏
10 100 80 81
20 400 360 361
50 2,500 2,400 2,401
100 10,000 9,800 9,801
1000 1,000,000 998,000 998,001

As n become larger, the time complexity is

ultimately dominated by the highest-order term

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 Outline
• Notice

• Review the previous lecture

• Time complexity of algorithm

• Recursion

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 Recursion
• What is recursion?
– Recursion occurs when the definition of a concept or process
depends on a simpler or previous version of itself
 From Wikipedia

– Examples in the real world

: nesting dolls, fractals

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 Recursion
• What is recursion?
– Example: Factorial (n!)

𝑛! = 𝑛 × 𝑛 − 1 × 𝑛 − 2 × 𝑛 − 3 × 𝑛 − 4 × … × 2 × 1

(𝑛 − 1)!

A factorial (n) includes the factorial (n-1)

 Let 𝑓 𝑛 is 𝑛!, 𝑓 𝑛 is defined as below

𝑛 × 𝑓 𝑛−1 … 𝑛≥1
𝑓 𝑛 =ቊ
1 … 𝑛=1
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 Recursion Function
• Recursion in programming language (JAVA)
– Recursive function refers to a function that calls itself within
its own function

 What is the expected output?

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 Recursive Function
• Recursion in programming language (JAVA)
– Recursive function refers to a function that calls itself within
its own function

 When a recursion function is called, how does the layout of the stack
memory change?

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 Recursive Function
• Understanding the flow of a recursive function
Main function() Stack

main
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 Recursive Function
• Understanding the flow of a recursive function
– When a recursive function is called, a copy of the recursive
function is created, and the copy is then executed
– When a recursive function returns, the return value is sent back
to the position where the recursive function was called in the
previous function
 Then, the subsequent statements are executed

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 Recursive Function
• The exit condition in recursion
– Setting the exit condition well is important

– Why?
 If there is no proper exit condition, the function calls functions infinitely
o stack overflow
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 Recursive Function
• Advantages and disadvantages of recursive function
– Advantages
1. Conciseness
: recursive solutions can lead to more concise and elegant code
2. Readability
: recursion often provides a natural and readable solution for certain
types of problems, enhancing code readability
3. Problem-solving
: recursive solutions can offer logical and intuitive approaches for
specific problem types (e.g., graph traversal, merge sort, etc.)

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 Recursive Function
• Advantages and disadvantages of recursive function
– Disadvantages
1. Performance
: recursion involves repeated function calls, potentially incurring function
call overhead and leading to performance degradation
2. Memory usage
: recursive calls use the stack call, and deep recursion may risk stack
overflow, resulting in memory issues
3. Debugging complexity
: Debugging recursive functions can be challenging.

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 Thank you!

E-mail: [email protected]

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