A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch.

5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
1
Divide-and-Conquer
The most-well known algorithm design strategy:
1. Divide instance of problem into two or more
smaller instances

2. Solve smaller instances recursively

3. Obtain solution to original (larger) instance by
combining these solutions

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
2
Divide-and-Conquer Technique (cont.)
subproblem 2
of size n/2
subproblem 1
of size n/2
a solution to
subproblem 1
a solution to
the original problem
a solution to
subproblem 2
a problem of size n
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
3
Divide-and-Conquer Examples
Sorting: mergesort and quicksort

Binary tree traversals

Multiplication of large integers

Matrix multiplication: Strassens algorithm

Closest-pair and convex-hull algorithms

Binary search: decrease-by-half (or degenerate divide&conq.)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
4
General Divide-and-Conquer Recurrence
T(n) = aT(n/b) + f (n) where f(n) e O(n
d
), d > 0

Master Theorem: If a < b
d
, T(n) e O(n
d
)
If a = b
d
, T(n) e O(n
d
log n)
If a > b
d
, T(n) e O(n
log
b
a
)

Note: The same results hold with O instead of O.

Examples: T(n) = 4T(n/2) + n T(n) e ?
T(n) = 4T(n/2) + n
2
T(n) e ?
T(n) = 4T(n/2) + n
3
T(n) e ?

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
5
Mergesort
Split array A[0..n-1] in two about equal halves and make
copies of each half in arrays B and C
Sort arrays B and C recursively
Merge sorted arrays B and C into array A as follows:
Repeat the following until no elements remain in one of
the arrays:
compare the first elements in the remaining
unprocessed portions of the arrays
copy the smaller of the two into A, while
incrementing the index indicating the unprocessed
portion of that array
Once all elements in one of the arrays are processed,
copy the remaining unprocessed elements from the other
array into A.

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
6
Pseudocode of Mergesort
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
7
Pseudocode of Merge
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
8
Mergesort Example
8 3 2 9 7 1 5 4
8 3 2 9 7 1 5 4
8 3 2 9 7 1 5 4
8 3 2 9 7 1 5 4
3 8 2 9 1 7 4 5
2 3 8 9 1 4 5 7
1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
9
Analysis of Mergesort
All cases have same efficiency: (n log n)

Number of comparisons in the worst case is close to
theoretical minimum for comparison-based sorting:
log
2
n!( n log
2
n - 1.44n

Space requirement: (n) (not in-place)

Can be implemented without recursion (bottom-up)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
10
Quicksort
Select a pivot (partitioning element) here, the first element
Rearrange the list so that all the elements in the first s
positions are smaller than or equal to the pivot and all the
elements in the remaining n-s positions are larger than or
equal to the pivot (see next slide for an algorithm)





Exchange the pivot with the last element in the first (i.e., s)
subarray the pivot is now in its final position
Sort the two subarrays recursively

p
A[i]sp
A[i]>p
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
11
Hoares Partitioning Algorithm
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
12
Quicksort Example
5 3 1 9 8 2 4 7

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
13
Analysis of Quicksort
Best case: split in the middle (n log n)
Worst case: sorted array! (n
2
)
Average case: random arrays (n log n)

Improvements:
better pivot selection: median of three partitioning
switch to insertion sort on small subfiles
elimination of recursion
These combine to 20-25% improvement

Considered the method of choice for internal sorting of large
files (n 10000)

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
14
Binary Tree Algorithms
Binary tree is a divide-and-conquer ready structure!

Ex. 1: Classic traversals (preorder, inorder, postorder)
Algorithm Inorder(T)
if T = C a a
Inorder(T
left
) b c b c
print(root of T) d e d e
Inorder(T
right
)

Efficiency: (n)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
15
Binary Tree Algorithms (cont.)
Ex. 2: Computing the height of a binary tree
T
T
L R
h(T) = max{h(T
L
), h(T
R
)} + 1 if T = C and h(C) = -1

Efficiency: (n)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
16
Multiplication of Large Integers
Consider the problem of multiplying two (large) n-digit integers
represented by arrays of their digits such as:

A = 12345678901357986429 B = 87654321284820912836

The grade-school algorithm:
a
1
a
2
a
n

b
1
b
2
b
n

(d
10
)

d
11
d
12
d
1n

(d
20
)

d
21
d
22
d
2n



(d
n0
)

d
n1
d
n2
d
nn


Efficiency: n
2
one-digit multiplications

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
17
First Divide-and-Conquer Algorithm
A small example: A - B where A = 2135 and B = 4014
A = (21 10
2
+ 35), B = (40 10
2
+ 14)
So, A - B = (21 10
2
+ 35) - (40 10
2
+ 14)
= 21 - 40 10
4
+ (21 - 14 + 35 - 40) 10
2
+ 35 - 14

In general, if A = A
1
A
2
and B = B
1
B
2
(where A and B are n-digit,
A
1
, A
2
, B
1
,

B
2
are n/2-digit numbers),
A - B = A
1
- B
1
10
n
+ (A
1
- B
2
+ A
2
- B
1
) 10
n/2
+ A
2
- B
2

Recurrence for the number of one-digit multiplications M(n):
M(n) = 4M(n/2), M(1) = 1
Solution: M(n) = n
2
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
18
Second Divide-and-Conquer Algorithm
A - B = A
1
- B
1
10
n
+ (A
1
- B
2
+ A
2
- B
1
) 10
n/2
+ A
2
- B
2

The idea is to decrease the number of multiplications from 4 to 3:

(A
1
+ A
2
) - (B
1
+ B
2
) = A
1
- B
1
+ (A
1
- B
2
+ A
2
- B
1
) + A
2
- B
2,

I.e., (A
1
- B
2
+ A
2
- B
1
) = (A
1
+ A
2
) - (B
1
+ B
2
) - A
1
- B
1
- A
2
- B
2,

which requires only 3 multiplications at the expense of (4-1) extra
add/sub.

Recurrence for the number of multiplications M(n):
M(n) = 3M(n/2), M(1) = 1
Solution: M(n) = 3
log
2
n

= n
log

2
3

n
1.585
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
19
Example of Large-Integer Multiplication

2135 - 4014
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
20
Strassens Matrix Multiplication
Strassen observed [1969] that the product of two matrices can
be computed as follows:

C
00
C
01
A
00
A
01
B
00
B
01

= *
C
10
C
11
A
10
A
11
B
10
B
11


M
1
+ M
4
- M
5
+ M
7
M
3
+ M
5



=
M
2
+ M
4
M
1
+ M
3
- M
2
+ M
6



A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
21
Formulas for Strassens Algorithm
M
1
= (A
00
+ A
11
) - (B
00
+ B
11
)

M
2
= (A
10
+ A
11
) - B
00

M
3
= A
00
- (B
01
- B
11
)

M
4
= A
11
- (B
10
- B
00
)

M
5
= (A
00
+ A
01
) - B
11


M
6
= (A
10
- A
00
) - (B
00
+ B
01
)

M
7
= (A
01
- A
11
) - (B
10
+ B
11
)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
22
Analysis of Strassens Algorithm
If n is not a power of 2, matrices can be padded with zeros.

Number of multiplications:
M(n) = 7M(n/2), M(1) = 1
Solution: M(n) = 7
log
2
n
= n
log
2
7
n
2.807
vs. n
3
of brute-force alg.


Algorithms with better asymptotic efficiency are known but they
are even more complex.

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
23
Closest-Pair Problem by Divide-and-Conquer
Step 1 Divide the points given into two subsets P
l
and P
r
by a
vertical line x = m so that half the points lie to the left or on
the line and half the points lie to the right or on the line.

x = m
d
l
d
r
d d
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
24
Closest Pair by Divide-and-Conquer (cont.)
Step 2 Find recursively the closest pairs for the left and right
subsets.
Step 3 Set d = min{d
l
, d
r
}
We can limit our attention to the points in the symmetric
vertical strip S of width 2d as possible closest pair. (The
points are stored and processed in increasing order of
their y coordinates.)
Step 4 Scan the points in the vertical strip S from the lowest up.
For every point p(x,y) in the strip, inspect points in
in the strip that may be closer to p than d. There can be
no more than 5 such points following p on the strip list!
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
25
Efficiency of the Closest-Pair Algorithm

Running time of the algorithm is described by

T(n) = 2T(n/2) + M(n), where M(n) e O(n)

By the Master Theorem (with a = 2, b = 2, d = 1)
T(n) e O(n log n)
A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
26
Quickhull Algorithm
Convex hull: smallest convex set that includes given points
Assume points are sorted by x-coordinate values
Identify extreme points P
1
and P
2
(leftmost and rightmost)
Compute upper hull recursively:
find point P
max
that is farthest away from line P
1
P
2

compute the upper hull of the points to the left of line P
1
P
max
compute the upper hull of the points to the left of line P
max
P
2

Compute lower hull in a similar manner
P
1

P
2

P
max

A. Levitin Introduction to the Design & Analysis of Algorithms, 3rd ed., Ch. 5 2012 Pearson
Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. All Rights Reserved.
27
Efficiency of Quickhull Algorithm
Finding point farthest away from line P
1
P
2
can be done in
linear time
Time efficiency:
worst case: (n
2
) (as quicksort)
average case: (n) (under reasonable assumptions about
distribution of points given)

If points are not initially sorted by x-coordinate value, this
can be accomplished in O(n log n) time

Several O(n log n) algorithms for convex hull are known