Estimating the Efficiency of Backtrack Programs.

Abstract

One of the chief difficulties associated with the so-called backtracking technique for combinatorial problems has been the inability to predict the efficiency of a given algorithm, or to compare the efficiencies of different approaches, without actually writing and running the programs. This paper presents a simple method which produces reasonable estimates for most applications, requiring only a modest amount of hand calculation. The method should prove to be of considerable utility in connection with D. H. Lehmer's branch-and-bound approach to combinatorial optimization.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1974
Accession Number
ADA004208

Entities

People

  • Donald Knuth

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Efficiency
  • Heuristic Methods
  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Operations Research
  • Systems Analysis and Design