Programming uses algorithms frequently and for a good reason. They offer a set of guidelines for resolving various software issues. Developers’ lives can be made more accessible by providing them with various general problem-solving methods.
There are several programming algorithms available nowadays, therefore,, software engineers and developers must be aware of what is available and when it is best to use it. A good algorithm will determine how to carry out a task or address a challenge in the quickest and most memory-conserving manner possible.
Sorting Algorithm
Sorting algorithms are a set of instructions that take an array or list as an input and orchestrate the items into a specific order.
Sorts are most commonly in numerical or a form of alphabetical (or lexicographical) order, and can be in ascending (A-Z, 0-9) or descending (Z-A, 9-0) arrange. Since they can regularly reduce the complexity of a problem, sorting algorithms are exceptionally important in computer science. These algorithms have direct applications in looking algorithms, database algorithms, divide and conquer methods, data structure algorithms, and many more. When choosing a sorting algorithm, a few questions must be asked – How big is the collection being sorted? How much memory is accessible? Does the collection need to grow?
The answers to these questions may determine which algorithm is going to work best for each circumstance. A few algorithms like merge sort may need a lot of space or memory to run, while insertion sort is not always the fastest, but does not require many resources to run.
Some of the common Sorting algorithms are:
- Selection sort
- Bubble sort
- Insertion sort
- Merge sort
- Quick sort
- Heap sort
- Counting sort
- Radix sort
- Bucket sort
Searching Algorithm
When looking for information, the difference between a quick application and a slower one lies within the accurate use of search algorithm. Searching algorithms may be a basic, principal step in computing done via step-by-step method to find a particular data among a collection of data.
All search algorithms use a search key to complete the procedure. And they are expected to return a success or a failure status (in Boolean true or false value). In computer science, there are several types of search algorithms available, and the way they are used decides the performance and effectiveness of the data available (the way the data is being used). These algorithms are classified in 2 categories according to their type of search operations. And they are:
Sequential Search
In this, the list or array is traversed sequentially, and every element is checked. For example: Linear Search Interval Search. These algorithms are specifically outlined for searching in sorted data-structures. These type of searching algorithms are more effective than Linear Search method, as they repeatedly target the center of the search structure and divide the search space in 2 halves. For Example: Binary Search. These are some types of searching algorithms:
- Linear Search
- Binary Search
- Jump Search
- Interpolation Search
- Exponential Search
- Sublist Search (Search a linked list in another list)
- Fibonacci Search
- The Ubiquitous Binary Search
Dynamic Programming
Dynamic Programming is an optimization over plain recursion. Wherever we see a recursive solution that has repeated calls for same inputs, we can optimize it utilizing Dynamic Programming. The thought is to simply store the results of subproblems, so that we do not need to re-compute them when needed afterward. This simple optimization diminishes time complexities from exponential to polynomial. Here, optimization problems mean that when we are attempting to find out the minimum or the maximum solution of a problem. The dynamic programming guarantees to find the optimal solution of an issue in case the solution exists.
The definition of dynamic programming says that it is a procedure for solving a complex problem by first breaking into a collection of less complex subproblems, solving each subproblem just once, and after that storing their solutions to avoid repetitive computations.
Dynamic Programming follows a series of steps:
- It breaks down the complex, bigger problem into simpler subproblems
- It finds the best solution for the sub-problems
- It saves the results of the subproblems, known as memorization
- It reuses them so that the same subproblem is calculated more than once
- Last, calculate the result of the complex problem
Recursion Algorithm
A recursive algorithm calls itself with smaller input values and returns the result for the current input by carrying out fundamental operations on the returned value for the more minor information. If a problem can be solved by applying solutions to smaller versions of the same problem, and the smaller versions shrink to readily solvable instances, at that point, the issue can be solved using a recursive algorithm. To build a recursive algorithm, you will break the problem statement into two parts. The primary is the base case, and the second is the recursive step.
Base Case: It is of a problem consisting of a condition endinge recursive function. This base case evaluates the result when a given situation is met.
Recursive Step: It computes the result by making recursive calls to the same work but with the inputs decreased in size or complexity.
There are also diverse types of recursions:
Direct Recursion: A function is called natural recursive if it repeatedly calls itself in its function body.
Indirect recursion: The type of recursion in which the function calls itself via another function.
Divide and Conquer
This technique can be divided into the following three parts:
Divide: This includes separatingng the issue into smaller sub-problems.
Conquer: Unravel sub-problems by calling recursively until solved.
The sub-problems to induce the final solution of the complete problem.
Some of the advantages of the Divide and Conquer Algorithm:
- A complex problemem can be solved easily
- Reduces time complexity of the problem
- Divides problem into subproblems so it can be solved parallelly, ensuring multiprocessing
- It does not occupy much cache memory
