Subset Sum Problem Using A Dynamic Programming

This document discusses solving the subset sum problem using a dynamic programming approach. It has a time complexity of O(N*sum) which is faster than exponential approaches. The problem is to find if a subset of numbers from a given set sums to a target value. The document then explains the dynamic programming solution which uses a 2D boolean array to store solutions in a bottom-up manner.

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Subset Sum Problem Using A Dynamic Programming

Uploaded by

Han

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Subset Sum problem using a dynamic programming approach will take O(N

* sum) time complexity which is significantly faster than the other

approaches which take exponential time.

Subset sum problem is that given a subset A of n positive integers and a

value sum is given, find whether or not there exists any subset of the given
set, the sum of whose elements is equal to the given value of sum.
Example:

Given the following set of positive numbers:

{ 2, 9, 10, 1, 99, 3}

We need to find if there is a subset for a given sum say 4:

{ 1, 3 }

For 7, there is no subset where the sum of elements equal to 7.

This problem can be solved using following algorithms:

1. Recursive method
2. Backtracking
3. Dynamic Programing
Here, we will solve this using Dynamic Programming.

Dynamic Programming
We create a boolean subset[][] and fill it in bottom up manner.

subset[i][j] denotes if there is a subset of sum j with element at index i-1 as

the last element

subset[i][j] = true if there is a subset with:

* the i-th element as the last element
* sum equal to j
Base cases include:

j=0 then subset[i][0] will be true as the sum for empty set is 0

If i=0, then subset[0][j] will be false, as with no elements, we can get no

sum.

subset[i][0] = true as sum of {} = 0

subset[0][j] = false as with no elements we can get no sum

If element at index i (E1) is greater than j, then subset[i][j] = false as we

cannot get a subset of positive numbers with E1 as a member.

If we include element at index i (E1), we get

subset[i][j] = subset[i-1][j-E1];

where E1 = array[i-1]

As if element E1 is included, then we need to find a subset with the first i-1
elements such that the sum is j - E1.

At this point, we should have the value of subset[i-1][j-E1] and hence, we

compute it instantly.

Dynamic Programming computes [i][j], for each 1 <= i <= n and 1 <= j <=
sum, which is true if subset with sum j can be found using items up to first i
items.

It uses value of smaller values i and j already computed. It has the same
asymptotic run-time as Memoization but no recursion overhead.

Steps:
1.We create a boolean subset[][] and fill it in bottom up manner.
2.The value of subset[i][j] will be true if there is a subset of set[0..j-1] with
sum equal to i., otherwise false.
3.Finally, we return subset[n][sum]

Complexity
Dynamic Programming
 Worst case time complexity: Θ(n*sum)
 Space complexity: Θ(sum)