Algorithms For Dummies
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Often, you find that a heuristic approach, one that relies on self-discovery and produces sufficiently useful results (not necessarily optimal, but good enough) is the method you actually need to solve a problem. Getting the algorithm to perform some of the required work for you saves time and effort because you can create algorithms that see patterns better than humans do.

Consequently, self-discovery is the process of allowing the algorithm to show you a potentially useful path to a solution (but you must still count on human intuition and understanding to know whether the solution is the right one). The following sections describe techniques you can use to compute the cost of an algorithm using heuristics as a method of discovering the actual usefulness of any given solution.

Representing the problem as a space

A problem space is an environment in which a search for a solution takes place. A set of states and the operators used to change those states represent the problem space. For example, consider a tile game that has eight tiles in a 3-x-3 frame. Each tile shows one part of a picture, and the tiles start in some random order so that the picture is scrambled. The goal is to move one tile at a time to place all the tiles in the right order and reveal the picture.

The combination of the start state, the randomized tiles, and the goal state — the tiles in a particular order — is the problem instance. You could represent the puzzle graphically using a problem space graph. Each node of the problem space graph presents a state (the eight tiles in a particular position). The edges represent operations, such as to move tile number eight up. When you move tile eight up, the picture changes — it moves to another state.

Winning the game by moving from the start state to the goal state isn't the only consideration. To solve the game efficiently, you need to perform the task in the least number of moves possible, which means using the smallest number of operators. The minimum number of moves used to solve the puzzle is the problem depth.

You must consider several factors when representing a problem as a space. For example, you must consider the maximum number of nodes that will fit in memory, which represents the space complexity. When you can't fit all the nodes in memory at one time, the computer must store some nodes in other locations, such as the hard drive, which can slow the algorithm considerably. To determine whether the nodes will fit in memory, you must consider the time complexity, which is the maximum number of nodes created to solve the problem. In addition, it's important to consider the branching factor, which is the average number of nodes created in the problem space graph to solve a problem.

Going random and being blessed by luck

Solving a search problem using brute-force techniques is possible. The advantage of this approach is that you don't need any domain-specific knowledge to use one of these algorithms. A brute-force algorithm tends to use the simplest possible approach to solving the problem. The disadvantage is that a brute-force approach works well only for a small number of nodes. Here are some of the common brute-force search algorithms:
  • Breadth-first search: This technique begins at the root node, explores each of the child nodes first, and only then moves down to the next level. It progresses level by level until it finds a solution. The disadvantage of this algorithm is that it must store every node in memory, which means that it uses a considerable amount of memory for a large number of nodes. This technique can check for duplicate nodes, which saves time, and it always comes up with a solution.
  • Depth-first search: This technique begins at the root node and explores a set of connected child nodes until it reaches a leaf node. It progresses branch by branch until it finds a solution. The disadvantage of this algorithm is that it can't check for duplicate nodes, which means that it might traverse the same node paths more than once. In fact, this algorithm may not find a solution at all, which means that you must define a cutoff point to keep the algorithm from searching infinitely. An advantage of this approach is that it's memory efficient.
  • Bidirectional search: This technique searches simultaneously from the root node and the goal node until the two search paths meet in the middle. An advantage of this approach is that it's time efficient because it finds the solution faster than many other brute-force solutions. In addition, it uses memory more efficiently than other approaches and always finds a solution. The main disadvantage is complexity of implementation, translating into a longer development cycle.

Using a heuristic and a cost function

For some people, the word heuristic just sounds complicated. It would be just as easy to say that the algorithm makes an educated guess and then tries again when it fails. Unlike brute-force methods, heuristic algorithms learn. They also use cost functions to make better choices. Consequently, heuristic algorithms are more complex, but they have a distinct advantage in solving complex problems. As with brute-force algorithms, there are many heuristic algorithms and each comes with its own set of advantages, disadvantages, and special requirements. The following list describes a few of the most common heuristic algorithms:
  • Pure heuristic search: The algorithm expands nodes in order of their cost. It maintains two lists. The closed list contains the nodes it has already explored; the open list contains the nodes it must yet explore. In each iteration, the algorithm expands the node with the lowest possible cost. All its child nodes are placed in the closed list and the individual child node costs are calculated. The algorithm sends the child nodes with a low cost back to the open list and deletes the child nodes with a high cost. Consequently, the algorithm performs an intelligent, cost-based search for the solution.
  • A * search: The algorithm tracks the cost of nodes as it explores them using the equation: f(n) = g(n) + h(n), where
    • n is the node identifier.
    • g(n) is the cost of reaching the node so far.
    • h(n) is the estimated cost to reach the goal from the node.
    • f(n) is the estimated cost of the path from n to the goal.

The idea is to search the most promising paths first and avoid expensive paths.

  • Greedy best-first search: The algorithm always chooses the path that is closest to the goal using the equation: f(n) = h(n). This particular algorithm can find solutions quite quickly, but it can also get stuck in loops, so many people don't consider it an optimal approach to finding a solution.

About This Article

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About the book authors:

John Mueller has produced 114 books and more than 600 articles on topics ranging from functional programming techniques to working with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Luca Massaron, a Google Developer Expert (GDE),??interprets big data and transforms it into smart data through simple and effective data mining and machine learning techniques.

John Mueller has produced 114 books and more than 600 articles on topics ranging from functional programming techniques to working with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Luca Massaron, a Google Developer Expert (GDE),??interprets big data and transforms it into smart data through simple and effective data mining and machine learning techniques.

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