CSE 830:

Design and Theory of Algorithms

Dr. Eric Torng

 Outline
• Definitions
– Algorithms
– Problems

• Course Objectives
• Administrative stuff …
• Analysis of Algorithms
 What is an Algorithm?
Algorithms are the ideas behind computer programs.

An algorithm is the thing that stays the same whether the

program is in C++ running on a Cray in New York or is in
BASIC running on a Macintosh in Katmandu!

To be interesting, an algorithm has to solve a general, specified

problem.
 What is a problem?
• Definition
– A mapping/relation between a set of input instances
(domain) and an output set (range)
• Problem Specification
– Specify what a typical input instance is
– Specify what the output should be in terms of the input
instance
• Example: Sorting
– Input: A sequence of N numbers a1…an
– Output: the permutation (reordering) of the input
sequence such that a1  a2  …  an .
 Types of Problems
Search: find X in the input satisfying property Y
Structuring: Transform input X to satisfy property Y
Construction: Build X satisfying Y
Optimization: Find the best X satisfying property Y
Decision: Does X satisfy Y?
Adaptive: Maintain property Y over time.
Two desired properties of algorithms

• Correctness
– Always provides correct output when presented
with legal input
• Efficiency
– What does efficiency mean?
 Example: Odd Number
Input: A number n
Output: Yes if n is odd, no if n is even
Which of the following algorithms solves Odd Number best?
• Count up to that number from one and alternate naming
each number as odd or even.
• Factor the number and see if there are any twos in the
factorization.
• Keep a lookup table of all numbers from 0 to the
maximum integer.
• Look at the last bit (or digit) of the number.
 Example: TSP
• Input: A sequence of N cities with the
distances dij between each pair of cities
• Output: a permutation (ordering) of the
cities <c1’, …, cn’> that minimizes the
expression
{j =1 to n-1} dj’,j’+1 + dn’,1’
Possible Algorithm:
Nearest neighbor
Not Correct!
 A Correct Algorithm
We could try all possible orderings of the points, then
select the ordering which minimizes the total length:

d=
For each of the n! permutations, Pi of the n points,
if cost(Pi) < d then
d = cost(Pi)
Pmin = Pi
return Pmin
 Outline
• Definitions
– Algorithms
– Problems

• Course Objectives
• Administrative stuff …
• Analysis of Algorithms
 Course Objectives
1. Learning classic algorithms
2. How to devise correct and efficient algorithms
for solving a given problem
3. How to express algorithms
4. How to validate/verify algorithms
5. How to analyze algorithms
6. How to prove (or at least indicate) no correct,
efficient algorithm exists for solving a given
problem
7. Writing clear algorithms and
 Classic Algorithms
• Lots of wonderful algorithms have already
been developed
• I expect you to learn most of this from
reading, though we will reinforce in
lecture
 How to devise algorithms
• Something of an art form
• Cannot be fully automated
• We will describe some general techniques
and try to illustrate when each is
appropriate
 Expressing Algorithms
• Implementations
• Pseudo-code
• English
• My main concern here is not the specific
language used but the clarity of your
expression
 Verifying algorithm correctness
• Proving an algorithm generates correct
output for all inputs
• One technique covered in textbook
– Loop invariants
• We will do some of this in the course, but
it is not emphasized as much as other
objectives
 Analyzing algorithms
• The “process” of determining how much resources
(time, space) are used by a given algorithm
• We want to be able to make quantitative assessments
about the value (goodness) of one algorithm compared
to another
• We want to do this WITHOUT implementing and
running an executable version of an algorithm
– Question: How can we study the time complexity of an
algorithm if we don’t run it or even choose a specific machine to
measure it on?
 Proving hardness results
• We believe that no correct and efficient
algorithm exists that solves many
problems such as TSP
• We define a formal notion of a problem
being hard
• We develop techniques for proving
hardness results
 Outline
• Definitions
– Algorithms
– Problems

• Course Objectives
• Administrative stuff …
• Analysis of Algorithms
 Algorithm Analysis Overview
• RAM model of computation
• Concept of input size
• Three complexity measures
– Best-case, average-case, worst-case
• Asymptotic analysis
– Asymptotic notation
 The RAM Model
• RAM model represents a “generic”
implementation of the algorithm
• Each “simple” operation (+, -, =, if, call) takes
exactly 1 step.
• Loops and subroutine calls are not simple
operations, but depend upon the size of the
data and the contents of a subroutine. We do
not want “sort” to be a single step operation.
• Each memory access takes exactly 1 step.
 Input Size
• In general, larger input instances require
more resources to process correctly
• We standardize by defining a notion of
size for an input instance
• Examples
– What is the size of a sorting input instance?
– What is the size of an “Odd number” input
instance?
 Measuring Complexity
• The running time of an algorithm is the function
defined by the number of steps required to solve
input instances of size n
– F(1) = 3
– F(2) = 5
– F(3) = 7
– …
– F(n) = 2n+1
• What potential problems do we have with the
above definition when applied to real algorithms
solving real problems?
 Case study: Insertion Sort
Count the number of times each line will be executed:

Num Exec.
for i = 2 to n (n-1) + 1
key = A[i] n-1
j=i-1 n-1
while j > 0 AND A[j] > key ?
A[j+1] = A[j] ?
j = j -1 ?
A[j+1] = key n-1
 Measuring Complexity Again
• The worst case running time of an algorithm is the function
defined by the maximum number of steps taken on any
instance of size n.
• The best case running time of an algorithm is the function
defined by the minimum number of steps taken on any
instance of size n.
• The average-case running time of an algorithm is the
function defined by an average number of steps taken on
any instance of size n.
• Which of these is the best to use?
 Average case analysis
• Drawbacks
– Based on a probability distribution of input instances
– How do we know if distribution is correct or not?
• Usually more complicated to compute than
worst case running time
– Often worst case running time is comparable to
average case running time(see next graph)
– Counterexamples to above:
• Quicksort
• simplex method for linear programming
Best, Worst, and Average Case
 Worst case analysis
• Typically much simpler to compute as we do not
need to “average” performance on many inputs
– Instead, we need to find and understand an input that
causes worst case performance
• Provides guarantee that is independent of any
assumptions about the input
• Often reasonably close to average case running
time
• The standard analysis performed
Motivation for Asymptotic Analysis

• An exact computation of worst-case

running time can be difficult
– Function may have many terms:
• 4n2 - 3n log n + 17.5 n - 43 n⅔ + 75
• An exact computation of worst-case
running time is unnecessary
– Remember that we are already approximating
running time by using RAM model
 Simplifications
• Ignore constants
– 4n2 - 3n log n + 17.5 n - 43 n⅔ + 75 becomes
– n2 – n log n + n - n⅔ + 1
• Asymptotic Efficiency
– n2 – n log n + n - n⅔ + 1 becomes n2
• End Result: Θ(n2)
 Why ignore constants?
• RAM model introduces errors in constants
– Do all instructions take equal time?
– Specific implementation (hardware, code
optimizations) can speed up an algorithm by constant
factors
– We want to understand how effective an algorithm is
independent of these factors
• Simplification of analysis
– Much easier to analyze if we focus only on n2 rather
than worrying about 3.7 n2 or 3.9 n2
 Asymptotic Analysis
• We focus on the infinite set of large n
ignoring small values of n
• Usually, an algorithm that is asymptotically
more efficient will be the best choice for all
but very small inputs.

0 infinity
 “Big Oh” Notation
• O(g(n)) =
{f(n) : there exists positive constants c and n 0
such that  n≥n0, 0 ≤ f(n) ≤ c g(n) }

– What are the roles of the two constants?

• n0:
• c:
 Set Notation Comment
• O(g(n)) is a set of functions.
• However, we will use one-way equalities like
n = O(n2)
• This really means that function n belongs to the
set of functions O(n2)
• Incorrect notation: O(n2) = n
• Analogy
– “A dog is an animal” but not “an animal is a dog”
 Three Common Sets

f(n) = O(g(n)) means c  g(n) is an Upper Bound on f(n)

f(n) = (g(n)) means c  g(n) is a Lower Bound on f(n)

f(n) = (g(n)) means c1  g(n) is an Upper Bound on f(n)

and c2  g(n) is a Lower Bound on f(n)

These bounds hold for all inputs beyond some threshold n0.
O(g(n))
(g(n))
(g(n))
O(f(n)) and (g(n))

O( f (n))  100
1
n2

( g (n))  n1
25
 Example Function

f(n) = 3n - 100n + 6
2
 Quick Questions
c n0
3n2 - 100n + 6 = O(n2)
3n2 - 100n + 6 = O(n3)
3n2 - 100n + 6  O(n)

3n2 - 100n + 6 = (n2)

3n2 - 100n + 6  (n3)
3n2 - 100n + 6 = (n)

3n2 - 100n + 6 = (n2)?

3n2 - 100n + 6 = (n3)?
3n2 - 100n + 6 = (n)?
 “Little Oh” Notation
• o(g(n)) =
{f(n) : c >0 n0 > 0 such that n ≥ n0
0 ≤ f(n) < cg(n)}
– Intuitively, limn f(n)/g(n) = 0
– f(n) < c g(n)
 Two Other Sets

f(n) = o(g(n)) means c  g(n) is a strict upper bound on f(n)

f(n) = (g(n)) means c  g(n) is a strict lower bound on f(n)

These bounds hold for all inputs beyond some threshold n0

where n0 is now dependent on c.
 Common Complexity Functions
Complexity 10 20 30 40 50 60
n 110-5 sec 210-5 sec 310-5 sec 410-5 sec 510-5 sec 610-5 sec
n2 0.0001 sec 0.0004 sec 0.0009 sec 0.016 sec 0.025 sec 0.036 sec
n3 0.001 sec 0.008 sec 0.027 sec 0.064 sec 0.125 sec 0.216 sec
n5 0.1 sec 3.2 sec 24.3 sec 1.7 min 5.2 min 13.0 min
2n 0.001sec 1.0 sec 17.9 min 12.7 days 35.7 years 366 cent
3n 0.59sec 58 min 6.5 years 3855 cent 2108cent
1.31013cent

log2 n 310-6 sec 410-6 sec 510-6 sec 510-6 sec 610-6 sec 610-6
sec
n log2 n 310-5 sec 910-5 sec 0.0001 sec 0.0002 sec 0.0003 sec 0.0004 sec
 Example Problems
1. What does it mean if:
f(n)  O(g(n)) and g(n)  O(f(n)) ???

2. Is 2n+1 = O(2n) ?
Is 22n = O(2n) ?

3. Does f(n) = O(f(n)) ?

4. If f(n) = O(g(n)) and g(n) = O(h(n)),

can we say f(n) = O(h(n)) ?