Greedy Algorithms Read Discuss Courses Learn Data Structures and Algorithms | DSA Tutorial Learn more about Greedy Algorithms in DSA Self Paced Course Practice Problems on Greedy Algorithms Top Quizzes on Greedy Algorithms What is Greedy Algorithm? Greedy is an algorithmic paradigm that builds up a solution piece by piece, always choosing the next piece that offers the most obvious and immediate benefit. So the problems where choosing locally optimal also leads to global solution are the best fit for Greedy. For example consider the Fractional Knapsack Problem. The local optimal strategy is to choose the item that has maximum value vs weight ratio. This strategy also leads to a globally optimal solution because we are allowed to take fractions of an item. Topics: Introduction Standard Greedy Algorithms Greedy Problems on Array Greedy Problems on Operating System Greedy Problems on Graph Approximate Greedy Algorithms for NP Complete Problems Greedy for Special Cases of DP Some Practice problems on Greedy Quick Links Introduction: Introduction to Greedy Algorithm – Data Structures and Algorithm Tutorials Greedy Algorithms (General Structure and Applications) Difference between Greedy Algorithm and Divide and Conquer Algorithm Greedy approach vs Dynamic programming Comparison among Greedy, Divide and Conquer and Dynamic Programming algorithm Standard Greedy Algorithms: Activity Selection Problem Job Sequencing Problem Huffman Coding Huffman Decoding Water Connection Problem Minimum Swaps for Bracket Balancing Egyptian Fraction Policemen catch thieves Fitting Shelves Problem Assign Mice to Holes Greedy Problems on Array: Minimum product subset of an array Maximize array sum after K negations using Sorting Minimum sum of product of two arrays Minimum sum of absolute difference of pairs of two arrays Minimum increment/decrement to make array non-Increasing Sorting array with reverse around middle Sum of Areas of Rectangles possible for an array Largest lexicographic array with at-most K consecutive swaps Partition into two subarrays of lengths k and (N – k) such that the difference of sums is maximum Greedy Problems on Operating System: First Fit algorithm in Memory Management Best Fit algorithm in Memory Management Worst Fit algorithm in Memory Management Shortest Job First Scheduling Job Scheduling with two jobs allowed at a time Program for Optimal Page Replacement Algorithm Greedy Problems on Graph: Kruskal’s Minimum Spanning Tree Prim’s Minimum Spanning Tree Boruvka’s Minimum Spanning Tree Dijkastra’s Shortest Path Algorithm Dial’s Algorithm Minimum cost to connect all cities Max Flow Problem Introduction Number of single cycle components in an undirected graph Approximate Greedy Algorithm for NP Complete: Set cover problem Bin Packing Problem Graph Coloring K-centers problem Shortest superstring problem Approximate solution for Travelling Salesman Problem using MST Greedy for Special cases of DP: Fractional Knapsack Problem Minimum number of coins required Some practice problems on Greedy: Easy: Split n into maximum composite numbers Buy Maximum Stocks if i stocks can be bought on i-th day Find the minimum and maximum amount to buy all N candies Maximum sum possible equal to sum of three stacks Divide cuboid into cubes such that sum of volumes is maximum Maximum number of customers that can be satisfied with given quantity Minimum rotations to unlock a circular lock Minimum rooms for m events of n batches with given schedule Minimum cost to make array size 1 by removing larger of pairs Minimum cost for acquiring all coins with k extra coins allowed with every coin Minimum increment by k operations to make all elements equal Find minimum number of currency notes and values that sum to given amount Smallest subset with sum greater than all other elements Medium: Maximum trains for which stoppage can be provided Minimum Fibonacci terms with sum equal to K Divide 1 to n into two groups with minimum sum difference Paper cut into minimum number of squares Minimum difference between groups of size two Connect n ropes with minimum cost Minimum number of Platforms required for a railway/bus station Minimum initial vertices to traverse whole matrix with given conditions Largest palindromic number by permuting digits Find Smallest number with given number of digits and digits sum Lexicographically largest subsequence such that every character occurs at least k times Hard: Maximum elements that can be made equal with k updates Minimize cash flow among friends Minimum Cost to cut a board into squares Minimum cost to process m tasks where switching costs Minimum time to finish all jobs with given constraints Minimize the maximum difference between the heights of towers Minimum edges to reverse to make path from a source to a destination Find the Largest Cube formed by Deleting minimum Digits from a number Rearrange characters in a string such that no two adjacent are same Rearrange a string so that all same characters become d distance away Quick Links : Learn Data Structure and Algorithms | DSA Tutorial Top 20 Greedy Algorithms Interview Questions ‘Practice Problems’ on Greedy Algorithms ‘Quiz’ on Greedy Algorithms If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article and mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above. Last Updated : 01 Dec, 2023