An introduction to algorithm design

The f ie ld of algori thm design is concerned wi th the development of e f f ic ient methods f o r so l v i ng computat ional problems. Although the f ield traces its roo ts to theore t i ca l c o m p u t e r science, recent algorithmic advances have drastical ly reduced the costs of rea l c o m p u t a t i o n s . For this reason it is important that anyone involved w i th comput ing have at leas t a c u r s o r y knowledge of the area. This paper surveys the f ield of a lgor i thm des ign in t w o w a y s : f i rs t by the study of a few problems in detai l , and then by a systemat ic v i ew of t h e f i e l d . The or ien ta t ion of this paper is towards the pract i t ioner of comput ing ( in e i t he r s o f t w a r e or hardware) ; the goals of the paper are to provide both an unders tand ing of t he f i e l d and a fee l ing for "what it can do for me H . An ear l ie r vers ion of this paper was given as an inv i ted paper at the Compute r Sc ience and Stat is t ics: Eleventh Annual Symposium on the Inter face, and appears in t he p r o c e e d i n g s thereof . This research was suppor ted in part by the Office of Naval Research under con t rac t N 0 0 0 1 4 7 6 C 0 3 7 0