Knapsack Problem

Given some items, pack the knapsack to get

the maximum total value. Each item has some
weight and some value. Total weight that we can
carry is no more than some fixed number W.
So we must consider weights of items as well as
their values.

Item # Weight Value

1 1 8
2 3 6
3 5 5
1
Knapsack Problem
There are two versions of the problem:
1. “0-1 knapsack problem”
 Items are indivisible; you either take an item or not. Some
special instances can be solved with dynamic programming

2. “Fractional knapsack problem”

 Items are divisible: you can take any fraction of an item

2
0-1 Knapsack Problem
 Given a knapsack with maximum capacity W, and a set S consisting
of n items
 Each item i has some weight wi and benefit value bi (all wi and W are
integer values)
 Problem: How to pack the knapsack to achieve maximum total value
of packed items?

3
0-1 Knapsack Problem
 Problem, in other words, is to find
max  bi subject to  wi W
iT iT

 The problem is called a “0-1” problem,

because each item must be entirely
accepted or rejected.

4
0-1 Knapsack Problem: brute-force
approach

Let’s first solve this problem with a

straightforward algorithm
 Since there are n items, there are 2n possible
combinations of items.
 We go through all combinations and find the one
with maximum value and with total weight less or
equal to W
 Running time will be O(2n)

5
Defining a Subproblem
 We can do better with an algorithm based on
dynamic programming

 We need to carefully identify the subproblems

Let’s try this:
If items are labeled 1..n, then a subproblem
would be to find an optimal solution for
Sk = {items labeled 1, 2, .. k}

This is a reasonable subproblem definition.

6
0-1 Knapsack Algorithm
for i = 0 to W
V[0,i] = 0
for i = 1 to n
V[i,0] = 0
for i = 1 to n
for w = 0 to W
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w 7
Running time
for w = 0 to W
O(W)
V[0,w] = 0
for i = 1 to n
V[i,0] = 0
for i = 1 to n Repeat n times
for w = 0 to W O(W)
< the rest of the code >
What is the running time of this
algorithm?
O(n*W)
Remember that the brute-force algorithm
takes O(2n) 8
Example

Let’s run our algorithm on the

following data:

n = 4 (# of elements)
W = 5 (max weight)
Elements (weight, benefit):
(2,3), (3,4), (4,5), (5,6)

9
Example (2)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1
2
3
4

for w = 0 to W
V[0,w] = 0

10
Example (3)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0

for i = 1 to n
V[i,0] = 0

11
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (4) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=3
1 0 0
wi=2
2 0
3 0 w=1
4 0 w-wi =-1
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
12
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (5) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=3
1 0 0 3
wi=2
2 0
3 0 w=2
4 0 w-wi =0
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
13
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (6) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=3
1 0 0 3 3
wi=2
2 0
3 0 w=3
4 0 w-wi =1
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
14
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (7) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=3
1 0 0 3 3 3
wi=2
2 0
3 0 w=4
4 0 w-wi =2
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
15
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (8) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=3
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=2
2 0
3 0 w=5
4 0 w-wi =3
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
16
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (9) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=4
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=3
2 0 0
3 0 w=1
4 0 w-wi =-2
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
17
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (10) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=4
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=3
2 0 0 3
3 0 w=2
4 0 w-wi =-1
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
18
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (11) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=4
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=3
2 0 0 3 4
3 0 w=3
4 0 w-wi =0
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
19
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (12) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=4
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=3
2 0 0 3 4 4
3 0 w=4
4 0 w-wi =1
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
20
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (13) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=4
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=3
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 w=5
4 0 w-wi =2
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
21
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (14) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=3 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=4
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 w= 1..3
4 0
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
22
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (15) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=3 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=4
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 w= 4
4 0 w- wi=0
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
23
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (16) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=3 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=4
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 w= 5
4 0 w- wi=1
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
24
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (17) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=4 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=6
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=5
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 w= 1..4
4 0 0 3 4 5
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
25
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Example (18) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=4 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
bi=6
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
wi=5
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 w= 5
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 w- wi=0
if wi <= w // item i can be part of the solution
if bi + V[i-1,w-wi] > V[i-1,w]
V[i,w] = bi + V[i-1,w- wi]
else
V[i,w] = V[i-1,w]
else V[i,w] = V[i-1,w] // wi > w
26
Comments
 This algorithm only finds the max possible value that can be carried
in the knapsack
» i.e., the value in V[n,W]
 To know the items that make this maximum value, an addition to
this algorithm is necessary

27
How to find actual Knapsack Items
 All of the information we need is in the table.
 V[n,W] is the maximal value of items that can be
placed in the Knapsack.
 Let i=n and k=W
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i1 // Assume the ith item is not in the knapsack
// Could it be in the optimally packed
knapsack?
28
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=4 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3 bi=6
2 0 0 3 4 4 7 wi=5
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i,k] = 7
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i1,k] =7
i=n, k=W
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 29
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (2) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=4 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3 bi=6
2 0 0 3 4 4 7 wi=5
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i,k] = 7
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i1,k] =7
i=n, k=W
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 30
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (3) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=3 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3 bi=5
2 0 0 3 4 4 7 wi=4
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i,k] = 7
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i1,k] =7
i=n, k=W
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 31
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (4) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=2 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 5
1 0 0 3 3 3 3 bi=4
2 0 0 3 4 4 7 wi=3
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i,k] = 7
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i1,k] =3
k  wi=2
i=n, k=W
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 32
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (5) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=1 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 2
1 0 0 3 3 3 3 bi=3
2 0 0 3 4 4 7 wi=2
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i,k] = 3
4 0 0 3 4 5 7 V[i1,k] =0
k  wi=0
i=n, k=W
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the ith item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 33
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (6) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 i=0 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k= 0
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 The optimal
knapsack
4 0 0 3 4 5 7
should contain
i=n, k=W {1, 2}
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the nth item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 34
 Items:
1: (2,3)
Finding the Items (7) 2: (3,4)
3: (4,5)
i\W 0 1 2 3 4 5 4: (5,6)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 3 3 3 3
2 0 0 3 4 4 7
3 0 0 3 4 5 7 The optimal
knapsack
4 0 0 3 4 5 7
should contain
i=n, k=W {1, 2}
while i,k > 0
if V[i,k]  V[i1,k] then
mark the nth item as in the knapsack
i = i1, k = k-wi
else
i = i 1 35
Conclusion
 Dynamic programming is a useful technique of
solving certain kind of problems
 When the solution can be recursively described in
terms of partial solutions, we can store these
partial solutions and re-use them as necessary
(memorization)
 Running time of dynamic programming algorithm
vs. naïve algorithm:
» 0-1 Knapsack problem: O(W*n) vs. O(2n)

36