Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures Using Python. Release 3.0

241 Pages·2011·4.92 MB·English

by  Miller B.N.

Problem Solving with Algorithms and
Data Structures
Release 3.0
Brad Miller, David Ranum
September 22, 2013

CONTENTS
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 GettingStarted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 WhatIsComputerScience? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 ReviewofBasicPython . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.6 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.7 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2 AlgorithmAnalysis 41
2.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2 WhatIsAlgorithmAnalysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3 PerformanceofPythonDataStructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.5 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.6 DiscussionQuestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.7 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3 BasicDataStructures 61
3.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.2 WhatAreLinearStructures? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.3 Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.4 TheStackAbstractDataType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.5 Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.6 Deques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.7 Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.8 TheUnorderedListAbstractDataType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.9 ImplementinganUnorderedList: LinkedLists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.10 TheOrderedListAbstractDataType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.11 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.12 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.13 DiscussionQuestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.14 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4 Recursion 117
4.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.2 WhatisRecursion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
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4.3 StackFrames: ImplementingRecursion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.4 VisualisingRecursion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.5 ComplexRecursiveProblems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.6 ExploringaMaze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.8 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.9 DiscussionQuestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.10 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5 SortingandSearching 147
5.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.2 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.3 Sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.5 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.6 DiscussionQuestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.7 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
6 TreesandTreeAlgorithms 185
6.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
6.2 ExamplesOfTrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
6.3 VocabularyandDefinitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
6.4 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.5 PriorityQueueswithBinaryHeaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
6.6 BinaryTreeApplications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
6.7 TreeTraversals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
6.8 BinarySearchTrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
6.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
6.10 KeyTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
6.11 DiscussionQuestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
6.12 ProgrammingExercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
7 JSON 235
7.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
7.2 WhatisJSON? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
7.3 TheJSONSyntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
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Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures, Release 3.0
CONTENTS 1
Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures, Release 3.0
2 CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Objectives
• Toreviewtheideasofcomputerscience,programming,andproblem-solving.
• Tounderstandabstractionandtheroleitplaysintheproblem-solvingprocess.
• Tounderstandandimplementthenotionofanabstractdatatype.
• ToreviewthePythonprogramminglanguage.
1.2 Getting Started
Thewaywethinkaboutprogramminghasundergonemanychangesintheyearssincethefirst
electronic computers required patch cables and switches to convey instructions from human
to machine. As is the case with many aspects of society, changes in computing technology
providecomputerscientistswithagrowingnumberoftoolsandplatformsonwhichtopractice
their craft. Advances such as faster processors, high-speed networks, and large memory ca-
pacities have created a spiral of complexity through which computer scientists must navigate.
Throughout all of this rapid evolution, a number of basic principles have remained constant.
Thescienceofcomputingisconcernedwithusingcomputerstosolveproblems.
You have no doubt spent considerable time learning the basics of problem-solving and hope-
fullyfeelconfidentinyourabilitytotakeaproblemstatementanddevelopasolution. Youhave
also learned that writing computer programs is often hard. The complexity of large problems
and the corresponding complexity of the solutions can tend to overshadow the fundamental
ideasrelatedtotheproblem-solvingprocess.
Thischapteremphasizestwoimportantareasfortherestofthetext. First,itreviewstheframe-
work within which computer science and the study of algorithms and data structures must fit,
in particular, the reasons why we need to study these topics and how understanding these top-
ics helps us to become better problem solvers. Second, we review the Python programming
language. Althoughwecannotprovideadetailed,exhaustivereference,wewillgiveexamples
and explanations for the basic constructs and ideas that will occur throughout the remaining
chapters.
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Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures, Release 3.0
1.3 What Is Computer Science?
Computer science is often difficult to define. This is probably due to the unfortunate use of
the word “computer” in the name. As you are perhaps aware, computer science is not simply
the study of computers. Although computers play an important supporting role as a tool in the
discipline,theyarejustthat–tools.
Computer science is the study of problems, problem-solving, and the solutions that come out
of the problem-solving process. Given a problem, a computer scientist’s goal is to develop an
algorithm,astep-by-steplistofinstructionsforsolvinganyinstanceoftheproblemthatmight
arise. Algorithms are finite processes that if followed will solve the problem. Algorithms are
solutions.
Computersciencecanbethoughtofasthestudyofalgorithms. However,wemustbecarefulto
include the fact that some problems may not have a solution. Although proving this statement
is beyond the scope of this text, the fact that some problems cannot be solved is important for
those who study computer science. We can fully define computer science, then, by including
both types of problems and stating that computer science is the study of solutions to problems
aswellasthestudyofproblemswithnosolutions.
It is also very common to include the word computable when describing problems and solu-
tions. We say that a problem is computable if an algorithm exists for solving it. An alternative
definition for computer science, then, is to say that computer science is the study of problems
that are and that are not computable, the study of the existence and the nonexistence of algo-
rithms. In any case, you will note that the word “computer” did not come up at all. Solutions
areconsideredindependentfromthemachine.
Computer science, as it pertains to the problem-solving process itself, is also the study of
abstraction. Abstraction allows us to view the problem and solution in such a way as to
separate the so-called logical and physical perspectives. The basic idea is familiar to us in a
commonexample.
Consider the automobile that you may have driven to school or work today. As a driver, a user
ofthecar,youhavecertaininteractionsthattakeplaceinordertoutilizethecarforitsintended
purpose. You get in, insert the key, start the car, shift, brake, accelerate, and steer in order to
drive. Fromanabstractionpointofview,wecansaythatyouareseeingthelogicalperspective
oftheautomobile. Youareusingthefunctionsprovidedbythecardesignersforthepurposeof
transporting you from one location to another. These functions are sometimes also referred to
astheinterface.
On the other hand, the mechanic who must repair your automobile takes a very different point
of view. She not only knows how to drive but must know all of the details necessary to carry
out all the functions that we take for granted. She needs to understand how the engine works,
how the transmission shifts gears, how temperature is controlled, and so on. This is known as
thephysicalperspective,thedetailsthattakeplace“underthehood.”
The same thing happens when we use computers. Most people use computers to write docu-
ments,sendandreceiveemail,surftheweb,playmusic,storeimages,andplaygameswithout
anyknowledgeofthedetailsthattakeplacetoallowthosetypesofapplicationstowork. They
viewcomputersfromalogicaloruserperspective. Computerscientists,programmers,technol-
ogy support staff, and system administrators take a very different view of the computer. They
4 Chapter 1. Introduction
Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures, Release 3.0
Figure1.1: ProceduralAbstraction
must know the details of how operating systems work, how network protocols are configured,
andhowtocodevariousscriptsthatcontrolfunction. Theymustbeabletocontrolthelow-level
detailsthatausersimplyassumes.
The common point for both of these examples is that the user of the abstraction, sometimes
also called the client, does not need to know the details as long as the user is aware of the way
the interface works. This interface is the way we as users communicate with the underlying
complexities of the implementation. As another example of abstraction, consider the Python
mathmodule. Onceweimportthemodule,wecanperformcomputationssuchas
>>> import math
>>> math.sqrt(16)
4.0
>>>
This is an example of procedural abstraction. We do not necessarily know how the square
root is being calculated, but we know what the function is called and how to use it. If we
perform the import correctly, we can assume that the function will provide us with the correct
results. Weknowthatsomeoneimplementedasolutiontothesquarerootproblembutweonly
need to know how to use it. This is sometimes referred to as a “black box” view of a process.
We simply describe the interface: the name of the function, what is needed (the parameters),
andwhatwillbereturned. Thedetailsarehiddeninside(seeFigure1.1).
1.3.1 What Is Programming?
Programming is the process of taking an algorithm and encoding it into a notation, a pro-
gramming language, so that it can be executed by a computer. Although many programming
languages and many different types of computers exist, the important first step is the need to
havethesolution. Withoutanalgorithmtherecanbenoprogram.
Computer science is not the study of programming. Programming, however, is an important
part of what a computer scientist does. Programming is often the way that we create a repre-
sentation for our solutions. Therefore, this language representation and the process of creating
itbecomesafundamentalpartofthediscipline.
Algorithms describe the solution to a problem in terms of the data needed to represent the
problem instance and the set of steps necessary to produce the intended result. Programming
languages must provide a notational way to represent both the process and the data. To this
end,languagesprovidecontrolconstructsanddatatypes.
1.3. What Is Computer Science? 5