Divide-and-conquer algorithm: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Algorithm design paradigm based on multi-branched recursion}}

In [[computer science]], '''divide and conquer''' is an [[algorithm design paradigm]] based on multi-branched [[recursion]]. A divide-and-conquer [[algorithm]] works by recursively breakingbreaks down a problem into two or more sub-problems of the same or related type, until these become simple enough to be solved directly. The solutions to the sub-problems are then combined to give a solution to the original problem.

This divide-and-conquer technique is the basis of efficient algorithms for all kinds of problems, such as [[sorting algorithm|sorting]] (e.g., [[quicksort]], [[merge sort]]), [[multiplication algorithm|multiplying large numbers]] (e.g. the [[Karatsuba algorithm]]), finding the [[Closest pair of points problem|closest pair of points]], [[syntactic analysis]] (e.g., [[top-down parser]]s), and computing the [[discrete Fourier transform]] ([[fast Fourier transform|FFT]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blahut |first1=Richard |title=Fast Algorithms for Signal Processing |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-511-77637-3 |pages=139–143}}</ref>