DHANALAKSHMI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, CHENNAI

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CS

6402 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS
UNIT – 1: INTRODUCTION
PART – A (2 marks)
1. What is the need of studying algorithms?
From a practical standpoint, a standard set of algorithms from different areas of computing must be
known, in addition to be able to design them and analyze their efficiencies. From a theoretical standpoint
the study of algorithms is the cornerstone of computer science.

2. Write an algorithm to compute the greatest common divisor of two numbers. [M – 17]
gcd(a, b)
{
if (a == 0 || b == 0)
return 0;

if (a == b)
return a;

if (a > b)
return gcd(a-b, b);
return gcd(a, b-a);
}

3. What is an algorithm? [M – 17]

An algorithm is a sequence of unambiguous instructions for solving a problem, i.e., for obtaining a
required output for any legitimate input in finite amount of time. An algorithm is step by step procedure to
solve a problem.

4. Give the diagram representation of Notion of algorithm. [M – 13]

5. What is the formula used in Euclid‘s algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two
numbers? [N – 16]
Euclid‗s algorithm is based on repeatedly applying the equality
Gcd[m,n]=gcd[n,m mod n] until m mod n is equal to 0, since
gcd[m,0]=m.

6. What are the three different algorithms used to find the gcd of two numbers? [M – 15]
The three algorithms used to find the gcd of two numbers are
 • Euclid‗s algorithm
• Consecutive integer checking algorithm
• Middle school procedure

7. What are the fundamental steps involved in algorithmic problem solving? The
fundamental steps are
• Understanding the problem
• Ascertain the capabilities of computational device
• Choose between exact and approximate problem solving
• Decide on appropriate data structures
• Algorithm design techniques
• Methods for specifying the algorithm
• Proving an algorithms correctness
• Analyzing an algorithm
• Coding an algorithm

8. Design an algorithm to compute the area and circumference of a circle [N – 16]

1. Start
2. Read the value of radius r of Circle
3. Give Pi = 3.14
4. Calculate area of Circle = Pi x r x r
5. Calculate Circumference of circle
Area (A) = Pi X r X r
Circumference (C) = 2 X Pi X r
6. Print area and Circumference
7. End.

9. Define recurrence relation. [N -16]

A recurrence relation is an equation that defines a sequence based on a rule that gives the next term as a
function of the previous term(s). The simplest form of a recurrence relation is the case where the next term
depends only on the immediately previous term.

10. What are the types of algorithm efficiencies?

The two types of algorithm efficiencies are
 • Time efficiency: indicates how fast the algorithm runs
• Space efficiency: indicates how much extra memory the algorithm needs

11. Mention some of the important problem types?
Some of the important problem types are as follows
 • Sorting
 • Searching
 • String processing
 • Graph problems
 • Combinatorial problems
 • Geometric problems
 • Numerical problems

12. What are the classical geometric problems?
The two classic geometric problems are
 • The closest pair problem: given n points in a plane find the closest pair among them
• The convex hull problem: find the smallest convex polygon that would include all the points of
a given set.

13. What are the steps involved in the analysis framework?
The various steps are as follows
 • Measuring the input‗s size
 • Units for measuring running time
 • Orders of growth
• Worst case, best case and average case efficiencies

14. What is the basic operation of an algorithm and how is it identified?
• The most important operation of the algorithm is called the basic operation of the algorithm, the
operation that contributes the most to the total running time.

• It can be identified easily because it is usually the most time consuming operation in the
algorithms innermost loop.

15. What is the running time of a program implementing the algorithm?
The running time T[n] is given by the following formula
T[n] ≈copC[n]
cop is the time of execution of an algorithm‗s basic operation on a particular
computer and C[n] is the number of times this operation needs to be executed for
the particular algorithm.

16. What are exponential growth functions? [N–16]

The functions 2n and n! are exponential growth functions, because these two functions grow so fast
that their values become astronomically large even for rather smaller values of n.

17. What is worst-case efficiency?

The worst-case efficiency of an algorithm is its efficiency for the worst-case input of size n, which is
an input or inputs of size n for which the algorithm runs the longest among all possible inputs of that
size.

18. What is best-case efficiency?

The best-case efficiency of an algorithm is its efficiency for the best-case input of size n, which is
an input or inputs for which the algorithm runs the fastest among all possible inputs of that size.

19. What is average case efficiency?

The average case efficiency of an algorithm is its efficiency for an average case input of size n. It
provides information about an algorithm behavior on a ―typical‖ or ―random‖ input.
20. What is amortized efficiency?
In some situations a single operation can be expensive, but the total time for the entire sequence of n
such operations is always significantly better that the worst case efficiency of that single operation
multiplied by n. this is called amortized efficiency.

21. Define O-notation? [M -13]

A function t[n] is said to be in O[g[n]], denoted by t[n] ε O[g[n]], if t[n] is bounded above by some
constant multiple of g[n] for all large n, i.e., if there exists some positive constant c and some non-
negative integer n0 such that
T [n] <=cg [n] for all n >= n0

22. Define Ω-notation? [M – 14]

A function t[n] is said to be in Ω [g[n]], denoted by t[n] ε Ω [g[n]], if t[n] is bounded below by some
constant multiple of g[n] for all large n, i.e., if there exists some positive constant c and some non-
negative integer n0 such that
T [n] >=cg [n] for all n >=n0

23. Define θ-notation?

A function t[n] is said to be in θ [g[n]], denoted by t[n] ε θ [g[n]], if t[n] is bounded both above & below
by some constant multiple of g[n] for all large n, i.e., if there exists some positive constants c1 & c2 and
some nonnegative integer n0 such that
c2g [n] <= t [n] <= c1g [n] for all n >= n0

24. Mention the useful property, which can be applied to the asymptotic notations and its use? [M – 15]
If t1[n] ε O[g1[n]] and t2[n] ε O[g2[n]] then t1[n]+t2[n] ε max {g1[n],g2[n]} this property is also true for Ω
and θ notations. This property will be useful in analyzing algorithms that comprise of two consecutive
executable parts.

25. What is algorithm visualization? [M -15]

Algorithm visualization is a way to study algorithms. It is defined as the use of images to convey
some useful information about algorithms. That information can be a visual illustration of algorithm‗s
operation, of its performance on different kinds of inputs, or of its execution speed versus that of other
algorithms for the same problem.

26. Give the Euclid‘s algorithm for computing gcd[m, n] [M – 16]

ALGORITHM Euclid_gcd[m, n]
//Computes gcd[m, n] by Euclid‘s algorithm
//Input: Two nonnegative, not-both-zero integers m and n
//Output: Greatest common divisor of m and n
while n ≠ 0 do
r ←m
mod n
m←n
 n←r
return m
Example: gcd[60, 24] = gcd[24, 12] = gcd[12, 0] = 12.

27. Compare the order of growth n[n-1]/2 and n2. [M – 16]

n[n-1]/2 n2
Polynomial Quadratic Quadratic
1 0 1
2 1 4
4 6 16
8 28 64
10 45 102
102 4950 104
Complexity Low High
Growth Low high

n[n-1]/2 is lesser than the half of n2

 PART – B (16 Marks)
1. How to analyze the algorithm of binary search with example? [N – 15]
2. Compare and contrast between recursive and non-recursive algorithms with example. [N – 15, M -17]
3. Explain asymptotic notations with algorithm efficiencies. [N – 15, M-17, M-16]
4. Explain recursive algorithm with example. [N – 15, N-14]
5. Compare the analysis framework with notations. [N – 15]
6. Explain in detail, non-recursive algorithm of finding Fibonacci series with example. [M - 16]
7. Explain about the fundamental steps to solve data structures algorithm with example.
8. Use the most appropriate notation to indicate the time efficiency class of sequential search algorithm in
worst case, Best case and average case. [N – 16]
9. State the general algorithm for analysing the time efficiency of nonrecursive algorithms and explain with
an example. [N – 16]
10. Solve the following recurrence relations.
• x(n)=x(n-1) +5 for n>1 x (1) = 0
• x(n)=3x(n-1) +5 for n>1 x (1) = 4
• x(n)=x(n-1) +n for n>0 x (0) = 0
• x(n)=x(n/2) +n for n>1 x (1) = 1 (solve for n=2k)
• x(n)=x(n/3) +1 for n>1 x (1) = 1 (solve for n=3k)
11. Give the algorithm to check whether all the elements in a given array of n elements are distinct. find the
worst-case complexity of the same. [M – 16]
12. Give the recursive algorithm for finding the number of binary digits in n's binary representation, where n
is a positive decimal integer. Find the recurrence relation and complexity. [M – 16]
13. Write the insertion sort algorithm and estimate its running time. [N – 15]
14. Show how to implement a stack using queues. Analyze the running time of the stack operations. [N – 15]
 UNIT- II: DIVIDE AND CONQUER METHOD -GREEDY METHOD

1. What is brute force algorithm?

A straightforward approach, usually based directly on the problem‗s statement and definitions of
the concepts involved.

2. List the strength and weakness of brute force algorithm. [M – 15]

Strengths
a. wide applicability,
b. simplicity
c. yields reasonable algorithms for some important problems [e.g., matrix multiplication,
sorting, searching, string matching]
Weaknesses
a. rarely yields efficient algorithms
b. some brute-force algorithms are unacceptably slow not as constructive as some other design
techniques
3. Write an algorithm for brute force closest - pair problem [N – 16]
minDist = infinity
for i = 1 to length(P) - 1
for j = i + 1 to length(P)
let p = P[i], q = P[j]
if dist(p, q) < minDist:
minDist = dist(p, q)
closestPair = (p, q)
return closestPair

4. What is worst case complexity of binary search? [N – 16]

The worst case is iterations of the comparison loop, where the notation denotes the
floor function that rounds its argument to the next-smallest integer and is the binary logarithm. The
worst case is reached when the search reaches the deepest level of the tree, equivalent to a binary search
that has reduced to one element and, in each iteration, always eliminates the smaller subarray out of the
two if they are not of equal size.

5. Give the general plan for divide-and-conquer algorithms. [M – 16]

The general plan is as follows
• A problems instance is divided into several smaller instances of the same problem, ideally about
the same size
• The smaller instances are solved, typically recursively
• If necessary the solutions obtained are combined to get the solution of the original problem Given a
function to compute on ‗n‗ inputs the divide-and-comquer strategy suggests splitting the inputs in to‗k‗
distinct susbsets, 1<k <n, yielding ‗k‗ subproblems. The subproblems must be solved, and then a
method must be found to combine subsolutions into a solution of the whole. If the subproblems are still
relatively large, then the divide-and conquer strategy can possibly be reapplied.
6. List the advantages of Divide and Conquer Algorithm [M – 14]
Solving difficult problems, Algorithm efficiency, Parallelism, Memory access, Round off control.

7. Define – Feasibility [M -14]

A feasible set [of candidates] is promising if it can be extended to produce not merely a solution,
but an optimal solution to the problem.

8. Define - Hamiltonian circuit [M -13]

A Hamiltonian circuit is defined as a cycle that passes through all the vertices of the graph exactly
once.

9. State the Master theorem and its use.

If f[n] [nd] where d ³ 0 in recurrence equation T[n] = aT[n/b]+f[n], then θ [n d] if a<bd
d d a d
T[n] [n log n] if a=b θ [nlog b ] if a>b
The efficiency analysis of many divide-and-conquer algorithms is greatly simplified by the use of
Master theorem.

10. What is the general divide-and-conquer recurrence relation?

An instance of size ‗n‗ can be divided into several instances of size n/b, with ‗a‗ of them needing
to be solved. Assuming that size ‗n‗ is a power of ‗b‗, to simplify the analysis, the following
recurrence for the running time is obtained:
T[n] = aT[n/b]+f[n]
Where f[n] is a function that accounts for the time spent on dividing the problem into smaller ones and
on combining their solutions.

11. Define- Merge sort

Merge sort sorts a given array A[0..n-1] by dividing it into two halves a[0..[n/2]-1] and A[n/2..n-1]
sorting each of them recursively and then merging the two smaller sorted arrays into a single sorted
one.

12.List the Steps in Merge Sort

1. Divide Step: If given array A has zero or one element, return S; it is already sorted. Otherwise,
divide A into two arrays, A1 and A2, each containing about half of the elements of A.
2. Recursion Step: Recursively sort array A1 and A2.
3. Conquer Step: Combine the elements back in A by merging the sorted arrays A1 and A2 into a
sorted sequence

13. List out Disadvantages of Divide and Conquer Algorithm

 • Conceptual difficulty
 • Recursion overhead
• Repeated sub problems

14. Define - Quick Sort
 Quick sort is an algorithm of choice in many situations because it is not difficult to implement, it is a
good\"general purpose\" sort and it consumes relatively fewer resources during execution.

15. List out the Advantages in Quick Sort

 • It is in-place since it uses only a small auxiliary stack.
 • It requires only n log[n] time to sort n items.
 • It has an extremely short inner loop
• This algorithm has been subjected to a thorough mathematical analysis, a very precise
statement can be made about performance issues.

16. List out the Disadvantages in Quick Sort
• It is recursive. Especially if recursion is not available, the implementation is extremely complicated.
• It requires quadratic [i.e., n2] time in the worst-case.
• It is fragile i.e., a simple mistake in the implementation can go unnoticed and cause it to perform
badly.

17. What is the difference between quicksort and mergesort?

Both quicksort and mergesort use the divide-and-conquer technique in which the given array is
partitioned into subarrays and solved. The difference lies in the technique that the arrays are
partitioned. For mergesort the arrays are partitioned according to their position and in quicksort they
are partitioned according to the element values.

18. What is binary search? [M -15]

Binary search is a remarkably efficient algorithm for searching in a sorted array. It works by
comparing a search key K with the arrays middle element A[m]. If they match the algorithm stops;
otherwise the same operation is repeated recursively for the first half of the array if K < A[m] and the
second half if K > A[m].

19. List out the 4 steps in Strassen‘s Method?

1. Divide the input matrices A and B into n/2 * n/2 submatrices, as in equation [1].
2. Using Θ[n2] scalar additions and subtractions, compute 14 n/2 * n/2 matrices A1, B1, A2, B2, …, A7,
B7.
3. Recursively compute the seven matrix products Pi =AiBi for i =1, 2, 7.
4. Compute the desired submatrices r, s, t, u of the result matrix C by adding and/or subtracting
various combinations of the Pi matrices, using only Θ[n2] scalar additions and subtractions.
 20. Define - Dijkstra‘s Algorithm
Dijkstra‘s algorithm solves the single source shortest path problem of finding shortest paths
from a given vertex[ the source], to all the other vertices of a weighted graph or digraph.
Dijkstra‘s algorithm provides a correct solution for a graph with non-negative weights.

21. Define - Huffman trees

A Huffman tree is binary tree that minimizes the weighted path length from the root to the
leaves containing a set of predefined weights. The most important application of Huffman trees
are Huffman code.

22. What do you mean by Huffman code?

A Huffman code is a optimal prefix tree variable length encoding scheme that assigns bit strings
to characters based on their frequencies in a given text.

23. What is meant by compression ratio?

Huffman‘s code achieves the compression ratio, which is a standard measure of
compression algorithm‘s effectiveness of
[3-2.25]/3*100 = 0.75/3*100
= 0.25 *100
= 25%.

24.List the advantage of Huffman‘s encoding?

a. Huffman‘s encoding is one of the most important file compression methods.
b. It is simple
c. It is versatility
d. It provides optimal and minimum length encoding

25. What is dynamic Huffman encoding?

In dynamic Huffman encoding, the coding tree is updated each time a new character is read from
the source text.
Dynamic Huffman encoding is used to overcome the drawback of simplest version.

26. What do you mean by optimal solution? [M -14]

Given a problem with n inputs, we obtain a subset that satisfies come constraints. Any subset
that satisfies these constraints is called a feasible solution.
A feasible solution, which either maximizes or minimizes a given objective function, is called
Optimal solution.

27. Give the General strategy divide and conquer method. [M – 16]
A divide and conquer algorithm works by recursively breaking down a problem into two or more
sub-problems of the same [or related] type [divide], until these become simple enough to be solved
directly [conquer].
Divide-and-conquer algorithms work according to the following general plan:
 a. A problem is divided into several sub problems of the same type, ideally of about
equal size.
b. The sub problems are solved [typically recursively, though sometimes a different
algorithm is employed, especially when sub problems become small enough].
c. If necessary, the solutions to the sub problems are combined to get a solution to the
original problem.
Example: Merge sort, Quick sort, Binary search, Multiplication of Large Integers and Strassen‘s
Matrix Multiplication.

28. What is Closest-Pair Problem? [M – 17, M- 16]

The closest-pair problem finds the two closest points in a set of n points. It is the simplest of a
variety of problems in computational geometry that deals with proximity of points in the plane or higher-
dimensional spaces.

29. Devise an algorithm to make a change for 1655 using the Greedy strategy. The coins available are
{1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5}. [M -17]
Algorithm:
while( there are more coins and the instance is not solved) {
grab the largest remaining coin; // selection procedure
if(adding the coin makes the change exceed the amount owed )
reject the coin; // feasibility check
else
add the coin to the change;
if( the total value of the change equals the amount owed )
// solution check the instance is solved;
}
Solution for the given instance 1655 = 1000 + 500 +100 + 50 + 5
 PART – B (16 Marks)

1. Explain closest pair and convex hull problem with example. [M – 15]
2. Compare and contrast between quick sort and merge sort with the following numbers 43, 22, 67, 10, 34, 55,
88, 71 [N - 14]
3. State and Explain the Merge sort algorithm and give the recurrence relation and efficiency. [M – 16]
4. Explain the method used for performing multiplication of two large integers. Explain how divide conquer
Method can be used to solve the same [M – 16]
5. Explain Floyd‘s algorithm with example. [N – 15]
6. Explain the memory functions of knapsack problem with example [M – 15]
7. Explain optimal binary search tree with example. [N – 14]
8. Explain Kruskal‘s algorithm with example. [M – 15]
9. A pair contains two numbers, and its second number is on the right side of the first ne in an array. The
difference of a pair is the minus result while subtracting the second number from the first one. Implement a function
which gets the maximal difference of all pairs in an array (using Divide and Conquer method). [M – 15]
10. Find whether the given string follows the specified pattern and return 0 or 1 accordingly.
Examples:
i. Pattern : "abba", input:"redblueredblue" should return 1
ii. Pattern : "abba", input:"asdasdasdasd" should return 1
iii. Pattern : "aabb", input:"xyzabcxyzabc" should return 1 [M – 17]

11. What is divide and conquer strategy and explain binary search with suitable example
problem. [M – 17]
12. Explain the algorithm for Quicksort. With an example show that Quicksort is not a stable sorting algorithm
[N – 16]

13. There are 4 people who need to be assigned to execute 4 jobs (one person per job) and the problem is to
find an assignment with minimum total cost. The assignment costs is given below, solve the assignment problem
by exhaustive search. [N – 16]

Job 1 Job 2 Job 3 Job 4

Person 1 9 2 7 8
Person 2 6 4 3 7
Person 3 5 8 1 8
Person 4 7 6 9 4
 UNIT – III : DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

1. What do you mean by dynamic programming. [M – 17]

Dynamic programming is an algorithm design method that can be used when a solution to the
problem is viewed as the result of sequence of decisions.
Dynamic programming is a technique for solving problems with overlapping sub problems. These sub
problems arise from a recurrence relating a solution to a given problem with solutions to its smaller
sub problems only once and recording the results in a table from which the solution to the original
problem is obtained. It was invented by a prominent U.S Mathematician, Richard Bellman in the
1950s.

2. What are the features of dynamic programming? [N – 14,M - 15]

 • Optimal solutions to sub problems are retained so as to avoid re-computing their values.
 • Decision sequences containing subsequence that are sub optimal are not considered.
• It definitely gives the optimal solution always.

3. What are the drawbacks of dynamic programming?
 • Time and space requirements are high, since storage is needed for all level.
• Optimality should be checked at all levels.

4. State the assignment problem. [M – 16]
The assignment problem is one of the fundamental combinatorial optimization problems in the branch of
optimization or operations research in mathematics. It consists of finding a maximum weight matching (or
minimum weight perfect matching) in a weighted bipartite graph.

5. Define - Principle of optimality [M – 14, M - 16]

It states that an optimal sequence of decisions has the property that whenever the initial stage or
decisions must constitute an optimal sequence with regard to stage resulting from the first decision.

6. Write the difference between the Greedy method and Dynamic programming.
 • Greedy method
1. Only one sequence of decision is generated.
2. It does not guarantee to give an optimal solution always.
• Dynamic programming
1. Much number of decisions is generated.
2. It definitely gives an optimal solution always.

7. What is greedy technique?

Greedy technique suggests a greedy grab of the best alternative available in the hope that a
sequence of locally optimal choices will yield a globally optimal solution to the entire problem. The
choice must be made as follows
• Feasible : It has to satisfy the problem‘s constraints
• Locally optimal: It has to be the best local choice among all feasible choices available on that
step.
• Irrevocable : Once made, it cannot be changed on a subsequent step of the algorithm
8. Write any two characteristics of Greedy Algorithm?
To solve a problem in an optimal way construct the solution from given set of candidates. As the
algorithm proceeds, two other sets get accumulated among this one set contains the candidates that
have been already considered and chosen while the other set contains the candidates that have
been considered but rejected.

9. What is the Greedy choice property?

• The first component is greedy choice property [i.e.] a globally optimal solution can arrive at by
 making a locally optimal choice.
• The choice made by greedy algorithm depends on choices made so far but it cannot depend on
 any future choices or on solution to the sub problem.
• It progresses in top down fashion.

10. What is greedy method?
Greedy method is the most important design technique, which makes a choice that looks best at
that moment. A given ‗n‗inputs are required us to obtain a subset that satisfies some constraints
that is the feasible solution. A greedy method suggests that one can device an algorithm that works
in stages considering one input at a time.

11. State the general principle of greedy algorithm? [M - 17]

 • Determine the optimal substructure of the problem.
 • Develop a recursive solution.
• Prove that at any stage of recursion one of the optimal choices is greedy choice. Thus it is always
 safe to make greedy choice.
 • Show that all but one of the sub problems induced by having made the greedy choice are empty.
• Develop a recursive algorithm and convert into iterative algorithm.

12. What are the labels in Prim‘s algorithm used for?
Prim‗s algorithm makes it necessary to provide each vertex information about the shortest edge
connecting the vertex to provided by attaching two labels to a vertex.
 • The name of the nearest tree vertex.
• The length of the corresponding edge not in the current tree with the a tree vertex.

13. How are the vertices not in the tree split into?
The vertices that are not in the tree are split into two sets
 • Fringe: It contains the vertices that are not in the tree but are adjacent to at least one tree vertex.
• Unseen: All other vertices of the graph are called unseen because they are yet to be affected by
the algorithm.

14. What are the operations to be done after identifying a vertex u* to be added to the tree?
After identifying a vertex u* to be added to the tree, the following two operations need to be performed
• Move u* from the set V-VT to the set of tree vertices VT.

 • For each remaining vertex u in V-VT that is connected to u* by a shorter edge than the u‗s current
distance label, update its labels by u* and the weight of the edge between u* and u, respectively.

15. What is the use of Dijksra‘s algorithm? [M – 16, N - 16]

Dijkstra‗s algorithm is used to solve the single-source shortest-paths problem: for a given vertex
called the source in a weighted connected graph, find the shortest path to all its other vertices. The
single-source shortest-paths problem asks for a family of paths, each leading from the source to a
different vertex in the graph, though some paths may have edges in common.

16. Define - Spanning tree

Spanning tree of a connected graph G: a connected acyclic sub graph of G that includes all of
G‗s vertices

17. What is minimum spanning tree?

Minimum spanning tree of a weighted, connected graph G: a spanning tree of G of the minimum
total weight

18. Define -Warshall‘s algorithm [M – 16]

Warshall‘s algorithm is an application of dynamic programming technique, which is used to find
the transitive closure of a directed graph.

19. Give the upper bound and lower bound of matrix multiplication algorithm?
Upper bound: The given algorithm does n*n*n multiplication hence at most n*n*n multiplication are
necessary.
Lower bound: It has been proved in the literature that at least n*n multiplication is necessary.

20. Define the single source shortest path problem. [M – 16]

Dijkstra‘s algorithm solves the single source shortest path problem of finding shortest paths
from a given vertex[ the source], to all the other vertices of a weighted graph or digraph.
Dijkstra‘s algorithm provides a correct solution for a graph with non-negative weights.

21. State Assignment problem. [M – 16]

There are n people who need to be assigned to execute n jobs, one person per job. [That is, each
person is assigned to exactly one job and each job is assigned to exactly one person.] The cost that
would accrue if the ith person is assigned to the jth job is a known quantity [ , ] for each pair , = 1, 2, . .
. , . The problem is to find an assignment with the minimum total cost.
 PART – B (16 Marks)

1. Explain the simplex method of 2 variable evaluations with example. [N – 15]

2. Explain the maximum flow problem of 3 variation method with example.
3. Explain maximum flow problem of bi-partite graph with example. [N – 15]
4. How do you construct a Minimum Spanning Tree using Prim‘s Algorithm? [N – 15]
5. Explain simplex method with example.
6. Explain OBST with suitable example. [M-16]
7. Explain about shortest path algorithms with example.
8. Explain about minimum spanning tree algorithms with example.
9. Solve the following instance of 0/1, knapsack problem given the knapsack capacity in W=5 using dynamic
programming and explain it. [M - 17]

Item Weight Value

1 4 10
2 3 20
3 2 15
4 5 25

10. Write the Huffman's algorithm. construct the Huffman's tree for the following data and obtain its Huffman's
code. [M - 17]

Character A B C D E -
Probability 0.5 0.35 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.2

11. Discuss about the algorithm and Pseudocode to find the Minimum Spanning Tree using Prim's Algorithm.
Find the Minimum Spanning tree for the graph show below. [M - 16]

And Discuss about the efficiency of the Algorithm.

12. Find all the Solution to the travelling salesman problem (cities and distances shown below) by exhaustive
search. Give the optimal solution. [M - 16]
13. Solve the all pairs shortest path problem for the digraph with the following weight matrix: [N – 16]

14. Apply Kruskal’s algorithm to find a minimum spanning tree of the following graph. [N-16]
 UNIT- IV: ITERATIVE IMPROVEMENT
1. Define – Linear programming
maximize 3x + 5y
subject to x+ y≤4
x≥0, y≥0.Variables u and v, transforming inequality constraints into equality constrains, are called
slack variables
2. What is basic solution?
A basic solution to a system of m linear equations in n unknowns [n ≥ m] is obtained by setting n –
m variables to 0 and solving the resulting system to get the values of the other m variables. The
variables set to 0 are called non basic; the variables obtained by solving the system are called
basic. A basic solution is called feasible if all its [basic] variables are nonnegative.

3. Define - Flow and flow conservation requirement [N-15]

A flow is an assignment of real numbers xij to edges [i,j] of a given network that satisfy the following:
• flow-conservation requirements: The total amount of material entering an intermediate vertex
must be equal to the total amount of the material leaving the vertex

• capacity constraints 
0 ≤ xij ≤ uij for every edge [i,j] E

4. What is cut and min cut? [M - 15]

Let X be a set of vertices in a network that includes its source but does not include its sink, and
let X, the complement of X, be the rest of the vertices including the sink. The cut induced by this
partition of the vertices is the set of all the edges with a tail in X and a head in X.
Capacity of a cut is defined as the sum of capacities of the edges that compose the cut.
• We‗ll denote a cut and its capacity by C[X,X] and c[X,X]
• Note that if all the edges of a cut were deleted from the network, there would be no
directed path from source to sink
• Minimum cut is a cut of the smallest capacity in a given network

5. State max – flow – min – cut theorem.
The value of maximum flow in a network is equal to the capacity of its minimum cut.
6. Define - Bipartite Graphs [M – 15]
Bipartite graph: a graph whose vertices can be partitioned into two disjoint sets V and U, not
necessarily of the same size, so that every edge connects a vertex in V to a vertex in U. A graph is
bipartite if and only if it does not have a cycle of an odd length.

7. What is augmentation and augmentation path?

An augmenting path for a matching M is a path from a free vertex in V to a free vertex in U
whose edges alternate between edges not in M and edges in M
• The length of an augmenting path is always odd

• Adding to M the odd numbered path edges and deleting from it the even numbered path
edges increases the matching size by 1 [augmentation]
8. Write the detailed description about simplex method.
Step 0 [Initialization] Present a given LP problem in standard form and set up initial tableau.
Step 1 [Optimality test] If all entries in the objective row are nonnegative — stop: the tableau
represents an optimal solution.
Step 2 [Find entering variable] Select [the most] negative entry in the objective row. Mark its column
to indicate the entering variable and the pivot column.
Step 3 [Find departing variable] For each positive entry in the pivot column, calculate the θ-ratio by
dividing that row's entry in the rightmost column by its entry in the pivot column. [If there are no
positive entries in the pivot column — stop: the problem is unbounded.] Find the row with the
smallest θ-ratio, mark this row to indicate the departing variable and the pivot row.
Step 4 [Form the next tableau] Divide all the entries in the pivot row by its entry in the pivot column.
Subtract from each of the other rows, including the objective row, the new pivot row multiplied by the
entry in the pivot column of the row in question. Replace the label of the pivot row by the variable's
name of the pivot column and go back to Step 1.

9. Define - Maximum flow problem

Problem of maximizing the flow of a material through a transportation network [e.g., pipeline system,
communications or transportation networks]

10. Define -Flow

A flow is an assignment of real numbers xij to edges [i,j] of a given network that satisfy the following:
• flow-conservation requirements: The total amount of material entering an intermediate vertex
must be equal to the total amount of the material leaving the vertex

• capacity constraints
0 ≤ xij ≤ uij for every edge [i,j] E

11. Write about Augmenting Path [Ford-Fulkerson] Method

• Start with the zero flow [xij = 0 for every edge]

• On each iteration, try to find a flow-augmenting path from source to sink, which a path along
 which some additional flow can be sent
• If a flow-augmenting path is found, adjust the flow along the edges of this path to get a flow
of increased value and try again

• If no flow-augmenting path is found, maximum augmenting path: 1→2 →3 →6

12. Write Shortest-Augmenting-Path Algorithm. [M -16]
Generate augmenting path with the least number of edges by BFS as follows.
Starting at the source, perform BFS traversal by marking new [unlabeled] vertices with two labels:
• first label – indicates the amount of additional flow that can be brought from the source to the
vertex being labeled
second label – indicates the vertex from which the vertex being labeled was reached, with ―+‖ or ―–
‖ added to the second label to indicate whether the vertex was reached via a forward or backward
edge.
13. What is use of Bipartite graph? [M – 15]
 A graph whose vertices can be partitioned into two disjoint sets V and U, not necessarily of the
same size, so that every edge connects a vertex in V to a vertex in U
A graph is bipartite if and only if it does not have a cycle of an odd length
A bipartite graph is 2-colorable: the vertices can be colored in two colors so that every edge has its
vertices colored differently

14. What is state space tree? [M – 16]

Backtracking and branch bound are based on the construction of a state space tree, whose nodes
reflect specific choices made for a solution‘s component .Its root represents an initial state before the
search for a solution begins.

15. State Extreme point theorem. [M – 16]

Any linear programming problem with a nonempty bounded feasible region has an optimal
solution; moreover, an optimal solution can always be found at an extreme point of the problem‘s
feasible region.
Extreme point theorem states that if S is convex and compact in a locally convex space, then S is the
closed convex hull of its extreme points: In particular, such a set has extreme points. Convex set has
its extreme points at the boundary.

16 .What do you mean by perfect matching in bipartite graph. [M – 17]

A perfect matching is a matching in which each node has exactly one edge incident on it. One
possible way of finding out if a given bipartite graph has a perfect matching is to use the above
algorithm to find the maximum matching and checking if the size of the matching equals the number
of nodes in each partition.

17. State: Planer coloring graph problem. [M – 17]

Graphs formed from maps in this way have an important property: they are planar. A graph GG is planar
if it can be represented by a drawing in the plane so that no edges cross. The number of colors needed
to properly color any map is now the number of colors needed to color any planar graph.

18. State Extreme point theorem. [M – 16]

An extreme point of a convex set S in a real vector space is a point in S which does not lie in any open
line segment joining two points of S. Intuitively, an extreme point is a "vertex" of S.
The Krein–Milman theorem states that if S is convex and compact in a locally convex space, then S is
the closed convex hull of its extreme points: In particular, such a set has extreme points.

19. Define the Iterative improvement technique [N – 16]

Algorithm design technique for solving optimization problems

• Start with a feasible solution

• Repeat the following step until no improvement can be found:
o change the current feasible solution to a feasible solution with a better value of the
objective function
• Return the last feasible solution as optimal
 20. What is maximum cardinality matching [N – 16]
A matching in a graph G=(V,E) is a subset M of the edges E such that no two edges in M share a
common end node. A maximum cardinality matching is matching with a maximum number of edges. ... A
matching covers the nodes of G with edges such that each node is covered by at most one edge.
 PART – B (16 Marks)
1. Compare backtracking with branch and bound with suitable example.
2. Explain maximum bi-partite problem in detail with example. [M -15]
3. How do you compute maximum flow for the graph using Ford-Fulkerson method? [N – 14, M - 16]
4. Explain how job assignment problem could be solved, given n tasks and n agents where each job is allocated
to each person. [M -15]
5. Write notes on deterministic and non-deterministic algorithm with example. [N – 14]
6. Explain stable marriage problem with example. [N – 16]
7. Describe in detail the simplex algorithm method [M – 17, N – 16]]
8. Explain KMP string matching algorithm for finding a pattern on a text and analyse the algorithm. [M - 17]
9. Apply the shortest – augmenting path algorithm to the network show below [M – 16]

10. State and prove Maximum flow and minimum cut Theorem. [N – 16]
 UNIT – V : COPING WITH THE LIMITATIONS OF ALGORITHM POWER

1. What is meant by n-queen Problem?

The problem is to place n queens on an n-by-n chessboard so that no two queens attack each other by being in
the same row or in the same column or in the same diagonal.

2. Define - Backtracking
Backtracking is used to solve problems with tree structures. Even problems seemingly remote to trees
such as a walking a maze are actually trees when the decision \'back-left-straight-right\' is considered a node in a
tree. The principle idea is to construct solutions one component at a time and evaluate such partially constructed
candidates

3. What is the aim of Backtracking?

Backtracking is the approach to find a path in a tree. There are several different aims to be achieved :
• just a path
• all paths
• the shortest path

4. Define - the Implementation considerations of Backtracking

The implementation bases on recursion. Each step has to be reversible; hence the state has to be saved
somehow. There are two approaches to save the state:
• As full state on the stack
• As reversible action on the stack

5. List out the implementation procedure of Backtracking

As usual in a recursion, the recursive function has to contain all the knowledge. The standard implementaion is
:
1. check if the goal is achieved REPEAT
7. check if the next step is possible at all
8. check if the next step leads to a known position - prevent circles
9. do this next step UNTIL [the goal is achieved] or [this position failed]
6. Define - Approximation Algorithm
Approximation algorithms are often used to find approximate solutions to difficult problems of combinatorial
optimization.

7. Why the search path in a state-space tree of a branch and bound algorithm is terminated?
• The value of the node‗s bound is not better than the value of the best solution.

 • The node represents no feasible solutions because the constraints of the problem are already violated.
• The subset of feasible solutions represented by the node consists of a single point.

8. Define - Subset-Sum Problem [M – 13]

This problem find a subset of a given set S={s1,s2,……,sn} of n positive integers whose sum is equal
to a given positive integer d.
9. Define -Traveling Salesman Problem
 Given a complete undirected graph G=[V, E] that has nonnegative integer cost c[u, v] associated with each
edge [u, v] in E, the problem is to find a hamiltonian cycle [tour] of G with minimum cost.

10. Define - Knapsack Problem [M – 13]

Given n items of known weight wi and values vi=1,2,..,n and a knapsack of capacity w, find the most
valuable subset of the items that fit in the knapsack.

11. Define - Branch and Bound

A counter-part of the backtracking search algorithm which, in the absence of a cost criteria, the algorithm
traverses a spanning tree of the solution space using the breadth-first approach. That is, a queue is used, and
the nodes are processed in first-in-first-out order.

12. What is a state space tree? [N – 15]

The processing of backtracking is implemented by constructing a tree of choices being made. This is called
the state-space tree. Its root represents a initial state before the search for a solution begins. The nodes of the
first level in the tree represent the choices made for the first component of the solution, the nodes in the second
level represent the choices for the second component and so on.

13. What is a non-promising node in the state-space tree?

A node in a state-space tree is said to be promising if it corresponds to a partially constructed solution that
may still lead to a complete solution; otherwise it is called non-promising.

14. What is the manner in which the state-space tree for a backtracking algorithm is constructed?
In the majority of cases, a state-space tree for backtracking algorithm is constructed in the manner of depth-
first search. If the current node is promising, its child is generated by adding the first remaining legitimate
option for the next component of a solution, and the processing moves to this child.

15. Define – Hamiltonian circuit [M – 15]

The Hamiltonian is defined as a cycle that passes through all the vertices of the graph exactly once. It is
named after the Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton [1805-1865].It is a sequence of n+1
adjacent vertices vi0, vi1,……, vin-1, vi0 where the first vertex of the sequence is same as the last one while
all the other n-1 vertices are distinct.

16. How NP Hard problems are different from NP Complete? [M – 15]

NP-complete problems are the “hardest” in NP: if any NP-complete problem is p-time solvable, then all
problems in NP are p-time solvable.
17. Depict the proof which says that a problem 'A' is no harder or no easier than problem 'B'. [N – 15]
1. Assume A has a polynomial time algorithm.
2. Show how a polynomial time algorithm for A can be used to solve B in polynomial time. (note that you do
not have such an algorithm, so you must convert the instances instead of modifying an algorithm.)
 3. Conclude that solving B in polynomial time is no harder than solving A in polynomial time, so if A has a
polynomial time algorithm, so does B.
18. Define linear programming. [N – 15]
A mathematical technique for maximizing or minimizing a linear function of several variables, such as output
or cost.
19. What is the assignment problem?
Assigning ‗n‗ people to ‗n‗ jobs so that the total cost of the assignment is as small as possible. The instance of
the problem is specified as a n-by-n cost matrix C so that the problem can be stated as:
select one element in each row of the Assignment problem is a matrix so that no two selected items are in the
same column and the sum is the smallest possible.

20. What is knapsack problem?

Given n items of known weights wi and values vi, i=1,2,…,n, and a knapsack of capacity W, find the most
valuable subset of the items that fit the knapsack. It is convenient to order the items of a given instance in
descending order by their Knapsack problem is a value-to-weight ratios. Then the first item gives the best
payoff per weight unit and the last one gives the worst payoff per weight unit.

21. Give the formula used to find the upper bound for knapsack problem.
A simple way to find the upper bound ‗ub‗ is to add ‗v‗, the total value of the items already selected, the product
of the remaining capacity of the knapsack W-w and the best per unit payoff among the remaining items, which is
vi+1/wi+1
ub = v + [W-w][ vi+1/wi+1]

22. What is the traveling salesman problem?

The problem can be modeled as a weighted graph, with the graph‗s vertices representing the cities and the edge
weights specifying the distances. Then the problem can be stated as finding the shortest
Hamiltonian circuit of the graph, In In TSP, where the Hamiltonian is defined as a cycle that passes through all
the vertices of the graph exactly once.

23. What is meant by c-approximation Algorithm?

We can also says that a polynomial-time approximation algorithm is a c-approximation algorithm if its
performance ratio is at most c, that is, for any instance of the problem in question
F [sa] <c f[s*]

24. Define- NP-Complete [M -15]
An NP-Complete problem is a problem in NP that is as difficult as any other problem in this class because
any other problem in NP can be reduced to it in Polynomial time.

25. What are the strengths of backtracking and branch-and-bound?

The strengths are as follows
• It is typically applied to difficult combinatorial problems for which no efficient algorithm for finding exact
solution possibly exist

• It holds hope for solving some instances of nontrivial sizes in an acceptable amount of time
Even if it does not eliminate any elements of a problem‗s state space and ends up generating all its elements, it
provides a specific technique for doing so, which can be of some value

26. Give the purpose of lower bound. [M – 16]

• The elements are compared using operator < to make selection.
• Branch and bound is an algorithm design technique that uses lower bound comparisons.
• Main purpose is to select the best lower bound.
• Example: Assignment problem and transportation problem.

27. What is The Euclidean minimum spanning tree problem? [M – 16]

The Euclidean minimum spanning tree or EMST is a minimum spanning tree of a set of n points in the plane where
the weight of the edge between each pair of points is the Euclidean distance between those two points. In simpler
terms, an EMST connects a set of dots using lines such that the total length of all the lines is minimized and any
dot can be reached from any other by following the lines.

28. What is Articulation point in a graph? [M – 17]

A vertex in an undirected connected graph is an articulation point (or cut vertex) if removing it (and edges through it)
disconnects the graph. Articulation points represent vulnerabilities in a connected network – single points whose
failure would split the network into 2 or more disconnected components. They are useful for designing reliable
networks. For a disconnected undirected graph, an articulation point is a vertex removing which increases number of
connected components.

29. Define P and NP problem [M – 17]

• The class P consists of those problems that are solvable in polynomial time, i.e. these problems can be solved in
time O(nk) in worst-case, where k is constant.
• The class NP consists of those problems that are verifiable in polynomial time. NP is the class of decision
problems for which it is easy to check the correctness of a claimed answer, with the aid of a little extra
information. Hence, we aren’t asking for a way to find a solution, but only to verify that an alleged solution really is
correct.
 PART – B (16 Marks)

1. Explain 8-queens problem with all possible solutions. [N – 14, M - 17]

2. Explain in detail and to find the optimal solution for 4-queens problem with example [N – 16]
3. Write notes on deterministic and non-deterministic algorithm with example. [N -14]
4. Explain the approximation algorithms of TSP and AP.
5. Explain convex-hull and closest pair problems with example.
6. Suggest an approximation algorithm for TSP. Assume that the cost functions satisfies the triangle
inequality. [M -15]
7. Compare P,NP,NP-Complete problems with example.
8. Apply Branch and Bound algorithm to solve the Travelling Salesman Problem for [M – 17]

9. Describe the approximate algorithm for NP Hard problem [M – 17]

10. Give any five undecidable problems and explain the famous halting problem. [M – 16]
11. State the subset-sum problem and complete state-space tree of backtracking algorithm applied to
the instance A={3,5,6,7} and d=15 of the subset-sum problem. [M – 16]
12. Solve the following instance of Knapsack problem by branch and bound algorithm. [N – 16]