Divide and Conquer - Introduction
What is Divide and Conquer? Divide and Conquer is an algorithm paradigm in which we break down a given problem into smaller sub-problems of similar type until the sub-problems are small enough to be solved directly. The solution to these sub-problems are then combined to give a solution to the original problem. Study the diagram below, it will then make more sense about what we do in Divide and Conquer : Where to Apply Divide and Conquer? The Divide and Conquer can be applied to all those problems that show Optimal Substructure property. So, What is this Optimal Substructure property now? If we can break down a problem into similar sub-problems and the solution of these sub-problems can be used to create the solution of the whole problem, then that problem is said to have the Optimal Substructure property. For eg. : Fibonacci(n) = Fibonacci(n-1) + Fibonacci(n-2), In this example, we can see that if we want to find the Fibonacci number at the nth place, we can br...