Chapter 2

Basics of
Algorithm Analysis

Slides by Kevin Wayne.

Copyright © 2005 Pearson-Addison Wesley.
All rights reserved.

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2.1 Computational Tractability

"For me, great algorithms are the poetry of computation.

Just like verse, they can be terse, allusive, dense, and even
mysterious. But once unlocked, they cast a brilliant new
light on some aspect of computing." - Francis Sullivan
 Computational Tractability

As soon as an Analytic Engine exists, it will necessarily

guide the future course of the science. Whenever any
result is sought by its aid, the question will arise - By what
course of calculation can these results be arrived at by the
machine in the shortest time? - Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage (1864) Analytic Engine (schematic)

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 Polynomial-Time

Brute force. For many non-trivial problems, there is a natural brute

force search algorithm that checks every possible solution.
 Typically takes 2N time or worse for inputs of size N.
 Unacceptable in practice.
n ! for stable matching
with n men and n women

Desirable scaling property. When the input size doubles, the algorithm
should only slow down by some constant factor C.

There exists constants c > 0 and d > 0 such that on every

input of size N, its running time is bounded by c Nd steps.

Def. An algorithm is poly-time if the above scaling property holds.

choose C = 2d

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 Worst-Case Analysis

Worst case running time. Obtain bound on largest possible running time
of algorithm on input of a given size N.
 Generally captures efficiency in practice.
 Draconian view, but hard to find effective alternative.

Average case running time. Obtain bound on running time of algorithm

on random input as a function of input size N.
 Hard (or impossible) to accurately model real instances by random
distributions.
 Algorithm tuned for a certain distribution may perform poorly on
other inputs.

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 Worst-Case Polynomial-Time

Def. An algorithm is efficient if its running time is polynomial.

Justification: It really works in practice!

 Although 6.02 × 1023 × N20 is technically poly-time, it would be
useless in practice.
 In practice, the poly-time algorithms that people develop almost
always have low constants and low exponents.
 Breaking through the exponential barrier of brute force typically
exposes some crucial structure of the problem.

Exceptions.
 Some poly-time algorithms do have high constants and/or
exponents, and are useless in practice.
 Some exponential-time (or worse) algorithms are widely used
because the worst-case instances seem to be rare.
simplex method
Unix grep

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Why It Matters

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2.2 Asymptotic Order of Growth
 Asymptotic Order of Growth

Upper bounds. T(n) is O(f(n)) if there exist constants c > 0 and n0 ≥ 0

such that for all n ≥ n0 we have T(n) ≤ c · f(n).

Lower bounds. T(n) is Ω(f(n)) if there exist constants c > 0 and n0 ≥ 0

such that for all n ≥ n0 we have T(n) ≥ c · f(n).

Tight bounds. T(n) is Θ(f(n)) if T(n) is both O(f(n)) and Ω(f(n)).

Ex: T(n) = 32n2 + 17n + 32.

 T(n) is O(n2), O(n3), Ω(n2), Ω(n), and Θ(n2) .
 T(n) is not O(n), Ω(n3), Θ(n), or Θ(n3).

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 Notation

Slight abuse of notation. T(n) = O(f(n)).

 Not transitive:
– f(n) = 5n3; g(n) = 3n2
– f(n) = O(n3) = g(n)
– but f(n) ≠ g(n).
 Better notation: T(n) ∈ O(f(n)).

Meaningless statement. Any comparison-based sorting algorithm

requires at least O(n log n) comparisons.
 Statement doesn't "type-check."
 Use Ω for lower bounds.

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 Properties

Transitivity.
 If f = O(g) and g = O(h) then f = O(h).
 If f = Ω(g) and g = Ω(h) then f = Ω(h).
 If f = Θ(g) and g = Θ(h) then f = Θ(h).

Additivity.
If f = O(h) and g = O(h) then f + g = O(h).
If f = Ω(h) and g = Ω(h) then f + g = Ω(h).
If f = Θ(h) and g = O(h) then f + g = Θ(h).

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 Asymptotic Bounds for Some Common Functions

Polynomials. a0 + a1n + … + adnd is Θ(nd) if ad > 0.

Polynomial time. Running time is O(nd) for some constant d independent

of the input size n.

Logarithms. O(log a n) = O(log b n) for any constants a, b > 0.

can avoid specifying the

base

Logarithms. For every x > 0, log n = O(nx).

log grows slower than every polynomial

Exponentials. For every r > 1 and every d > 0, nd = O(rn).

every exponential grows faster than every polynomial

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2.4 A Survey of Common Running Times
 Linear Time: O(n)

Linear time. Running time is proportional to input size.

Computing the maximum. Compute maximum of n numbers a1, …, an.

max ← a1
for i = 2 to n {
if (ai > max)
max ← ai
}

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 Linear Time: O(n)

Merge. Combine two sorted lists A = a1,a2,…,an with B = b1,b2,…,bn

into sorted whole.

i = 1, j = 1
while (both lists are nonempty) {
if (ai ≤ bj) append ai to output list and increment i
else(ai ≤ bj)append bj to output list and increment j
}
append remainder of nonempty list to output list

Claim. Merging two lists of size n takes O(n) time.

Pf. After each comparison, the length of output list increases by 1.

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 O(n log n) Time

O(n log n) time. Arises in divide-and-conquer algorithms.

also referred to as linearithmic time

Sorting. Mergesort and heapsort are sorting algorithms that perform

O(n log n) comparisons.

Largest empty interval. Given n time-stamps x1, …, xn on which copies

of a file arrive at a server, what is largest interval of time when no
copies of the file arrive?

O(n log n) solution. Sort the time-stamps. Scan the sorted list in
order, identifying the maximum gap between successive time-stamps.

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 Quadratic Time: O(n2)

Quadratic time. Enumerate all pairs of elements.

Closest pair of points. Given a list of n points in the plane (x1, y1), …,
(xn, yn), find the pair that is closest.

O(n2) solution. Try all pairs of points.

min ← (x1 - x2)2 + (y1 - y2)2

for i = 1 to n {
for j = i+1 to n {
d ← (xi - xj)2 + (yi - yj)2 don't need to
if (d < min) take square roots

min ← d
}
}

Remark. Ω(n2) seems inevitable, but this is just an illusion. see chapter 5

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 Cubic Time: O(n3)

Cubic time. Enumerate all triples of elements.

Set disjointness. Given n sets S1, …, Sn each of which is a subset of

1, 2, …, n, is there some pair of these which are disjoint?

O(n3) solution. For each pairs of sets, determine if they are disjoint.

foreach set Si {
foreach other set Sj {
foreach element p of Si {
determine whether p also belongs to Sj
}
if (no element of Si belongs to Sj)
report that Si and Sj are disjoint
}
}

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 Polynomial Time: O(nk) Time

Independent set of size k. Given a graph, are there k nodes such that
no two are joined by an edge?
k is a constant

O(nk) solution. Enumerate all subsets of k nodes.

foreach subset S of k nodes {

check whether S in an independent set
if (S is an independent set)
report S is an independent set
}
}

 Check whether S is an independent set = O(k2).

 Number of k element subsets = " n % n (n (1) (n ( 2) L (n ( k +1) nk
O(k2 nk / k!) = O(nk). $ '= )
 k
# & k (k (1) (k ( 2) L (2) (1) k!
poly-time for k=17,
but not practical

!
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 Exponential Time

Independent set. Given a graph, what is maximum size of an

independent set?

O(n2 2n) solution. Enumerate all subsets.

S* ← φ
foreach subset S of nodes {
check whether S in an independent set
if (S is largest independent set seen so far)
update S* ← S
}
}

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