Partition a set into two subsets such that the difference of subset sums is minimum

Difficulty Level : Hard
Last Updated : 26 Oct, 2020

Given a set of integers, the task is to divide it into two sets S1 and S2 such that the absolute difference between their sums is minimum.
If there is a set S with n elements, then if we assume Subset1 has m elements, Subset2 must have n-m elements and the value of abs(sum(Subset1) – sum(Subset2)) should be minimum.
Example:

Input:  arr[] = {1, 6, 11, 5} 
Output: 1
Explanation:
Subset1 = {1, 5, 6}, sum of Subset1 = 12 
Subset2 = {11}, sum of Subset2 = 11

This problem is mainly an extension to the Dynamic Programming| Set 18 (Partition Problem).
Recursive Solution
The recursive approach is to generate all possible sums from all the values of the array and to check which solution is the most optimal one.
To generate sums we either include the i’th item in set 1 or don’t include, i.e., include in set 2.

C

// A Recursive C program to solve minimum sum partition
// problem.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Function to find the minimum sum
int findMinRec(int arr[], int i, int sumCalculated, int sumTotal)
{
    // If we have reached last element.  Sum of one
    // subset is sumCalculated, sum of other subset is
    // sumTotal-sumCalculated.  Return absolute difference
    // of two sums.
    if (i==0)
        return abs((sumTotal-sumCalculated) - sumCalculated);
 
 
    // For every item arr[i], we have two choices
    // (1) We do not include it first set
    // (2) We include it in first set
    // We return minimum of two choices
    return min(findMinRec(arr, i-1, sumCalculated+arr[i-1], sumTotal),
               findMinRec(arr, i-1, sumCalculated, sumTotal));
}
 
// Returns minimum possible difference between sums
// of two subsets
int findMin(int arr[], int n)
{
    // Compute total sum of elements
    int sumTotal = 0;
    for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
        sumTotal += arr[i];
 
    // Compute result using recursive function
    return findMinRec(arr, n, 0, sumTotal);
}
 
// Driver program to test above function
int main()
{
    int arr[] = {3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1};
    int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
    cout << "The minimum difference between two sets is "
         << findMin(arr, n);
    return 0;
}

Java

// JAVA code to partition a set into two subsets
// such that the difference of subset sums
// is minimum
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG {
     
    // Function to find the minimum sum
    public static int findMinRec(int arr[], int i,
                                int sumCalculated,
                                 int sumTotal)
    {
        // If we have reached last element.
        // Sum of one subset is sumCalculated,
        // sum of other subset is sumTotal-
        // sumCalculated.  Return absolute 
        // difference of two sums.
        if (i == 0)
            return Math.abs((sumTotal-sumCalculated) -
                                   sumCalculated);
      
      
        // For every item arr[i], we have two choices
        // (1) We do not include it first set
        // (2) We include it in first set
        // We return minimum of two choices
        return Math.min(findMinRec(arr, i - 1, sumCalculated 
                                   + arr[i-1], sumTotal),
                                 findMinRec(arr, i-1,
                                  sumCalculated, sumTotal));
    }
      
    // Returns minimum possible difference between
    // sums of two subsets
    public static int findMin(int arr[], int n)
    {
        // Compute total sum of elements
        int sumTotal = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            sumTotal += arr[i];
      
        // Compute result using recursive function
        return findMinRec(arr, n, 0, sumTotal);
    }
     
    /* Driver program to test above function */
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        int arr[] = {3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1};
        int n = arr.length;
        System.out.print("The minimum difference"+
                        " between two sets is " + 
                         findMin(arr, n));
    }
}
   
// This code is contributed by Arnav Kr. Mandal.

Python3

# Python3 program for the
# above approach
# A Recursive C program to 
# solve minimum sum partition
# problem.
 
# Function to find the minimum sum
def findMinRec(arr, i, sumCalculated, 
               sumTotal):
 
    # If we have reached last element.  
    # Sum of one subset is sumCalculated, 
    # sum of other subset is sumTotal- 
    # sumCalculated.  Return absolute 
    # difference of two sums.
    if (i == 0):
        return abs((sumTotal - sumCalculated) -
                    sumCalculated)
 
    # For every item arr[i], we have two choices
    # (1) We do not include it first set
    # (2) We include it in first set
    # We return minimum of two choices
    return min(findMinRec(arr, i - 1, 
                          sumCalculated+arr[i - 1], 
                          sumTotal),
               findMinRec(arr, i - 1, 
                          sumCalculated, sumTotal))
 
# Returns minimum possible 
# difference between sums
# of two subsets
def findMin(arr,  n):
 
    # Compute total sum 
    # of elements
    sumTotal = 0
    for i in range(n):
        sumTotal += arr[i]
 
    # Compute result using 
    # recursive function
    return findMinRec(arr, n, 
                      0, sumTotal)
 
# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__":
 
    arr = [3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1]
    n = len(arr)
    print("The minimum difference " +
          "between two sets is ", 
           findMin(arr, n))
 
# This code is contributed by Chitranayal

C#

// C# code to partition a set into two subsets
// such that the difference of subset sums
// is minimum
using System; 
 
class GFG {
     
    // Function to find the minimum sum
    public static int findMinRec(int []arr, int i,
                                int sumCalculated,
                                     int sumTotal)
    {
        // If we have reached last element.
        // Sum of one subset is sumCalculated,
        // sum of other subset is sumTotal-
        // sumCalculated. Return absolute 
        // difference of two sums.
        if (i == 0)
            return Math.Abs((sumTotal-sumCalculated)
                                    - sumCalculated);
     
     
        // For every item arr[i], we have two choices
        // (1) We do not include it first set
        // (2) We include it in first set
        // We return minimum of two choices
        return Math.Min(findMinRec(arr, i - 1, 
                  sumCalculated + arr[i-1], sumTotal),
                   findMinRec(arr, i-1, sumCalculated, 
                                           sumTotal));
    }
     
    // Returns minimum possible difference between
    // sums of two subsets
    public static int findMin(int []arr, int n)
    {
         
        // Compute total sum of elements
        int sumTotal = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            sumTotal += arr[i];
     
        // Compute result using recursive function
        return findMinRec(arr, n, 0, sumTotal);
    }
     
    /* Driver program to test above function */
    public static void Main() 
    {
        int []arr = {3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1};
        int n = arr.Length;
        Console.Write("The minimum difference"+
                        " between two sets is " + 
                               findMin(arr, n));
    }
}
     
// This code is contributed by nitin mittal.

Output:

The minimum difference between two sets is 1

Time Complexity:

All the sums can be generated by either 
(1) including that element in set 1.
(2) without including that element in set 1.
So possible combinations are :-  
arr[0]      (1 or 2)  -> 2 values
arr[1]    (1 or 2)  -> 2 values
.
.
.
arr[n]     (2 or 2)  -> 2 values
So time complexity will be 2*2*..... *2 (For n times),
that is O(2^n).

Dynamic Programming
The problem can be solved using dynamic programming when the sum of the elements is not too big. We can create a 2D array dp[n+1][sum+1] where n is a number of elements in a given set and sum is the sum of all elements. We can construct the solution in a bottom-up manner.

The task is to divide the set into two parts. 
We will consider the following factors for dividing it. 
Let 
  dp[n+1][sum+1] = {1 if some subset from 1st to i'th has a sum 
                      equal to j
                   0 otherwise}
    
    i ranges from {1..n}
    j ranges from {0..(sum of all elements)}  

So      
    dp[n+1][sum+1]  will be 1 if 
    1) The sum j is achieved including i'th item
    2) The sum j is achieved excluding i'th item.

Let sum of all the elements be S.  

To find Minimum sum difference, w have to find j such 
that Min{sum - j*2  : dp[n][j]  == 1 } 
    where j varies from 0 to sum/2

The idea is, sum of S1 is j and it should be closest
to sum/2, i.e., 2*j should be closest to sum.

Below is the implementation of the above code.

C++

// A Recursive C program to solve minimum sum partition
// problem.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
// Returns the minimum value of the difference of the two sets.
int findMin(int arr[], int n)
{
    // Calculate sum of all elements
    int sum = 0; 
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        sum += arr[i];
 
    // Create an array to store results of subproblems
    bool dp[n+1][sum+1];
 
    // Initialize first column as true. 0 sum is possible 
    // with all elements.
    for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++)
        dp[i][0] = true;
 
    // Initialize top row, except dp[0][0], as false. With
    // 0 elements, no other sum except 0 is possible
    for (int i = 1; i <= sum; i++)
        dp[0][i] = false;
 
    // Fill the partition table in bottom up manner
    for (int i=1; i<=n; i++)
    {
        for (int j=1; j<=sum; j++)
        {
            // If i'th element is excluded
            dp[i][j] = dp[i-1][j];
 
            // If i'th element is included
            if (arr[i-1] <= j)
                dp[i][j] |= dp[i-1][j-arr[i-1]];
        }
    }
  
    // Initialize difference of two sums. 
    int diff = INT_MAX;
     
    // Find the largest j such that dp[n][j]
    // is true where j loops from sum/2 t0 0
    for (int j=sum/2; j>=0; j--)
    {
        // Find the 
        if (dp[n][j] == true)
        {
            diff = sum-2*j;
            break;
        }
    }
    return diff;
}
 
// Driver program to test above function
int main()
{
    int arr[] = {3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1};
    int n = sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
    cout << "The minimum difference between 2 sets is "
         << findMin(arr, n);
    return 0;
}

Java

// A Recursive java program to solve 
// minimum sum partition problem.
import java.io.*;
 
class GFG 
{
    // Returns the minimum value of 
    //the difference of the two sets.
    static int findMin(int arr[], int n)
    {
        // Calculate sum of all elements
        int sum = 0; 
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
            sum += arr[i];
     
        // Create an array to store 
        // results of subproblems
        boolean dp[][] = new boolean[n + 1][sum + 1];
     
        // Initialize first column as true. 
        // 0 sum is possible  with all elements.
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++)
            dp[i][0] = true;
     
        // Initialize top row, except dp[0][0], 
        // as false. With 0 elements, no other 
        // sum except 0 is possible
        for (int i = 1; i <= sum; i++)
            dp[0][i] = false;
     
        // Fill the partition table 
        // in bottom up manner
        for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++)
        {
            for (int j = 1; j <= sum; j++)
            {
                // If i'th element is excluded
                dp[i][j] = dp[i - 1][j];
     
                // If i'th element is included
                if (arr[i - 1] <= j)
                    dp[i][j] |= dp[i - 1][j - arr[i - 1]];
            }
        }
     
        // Initialize difference of two sums. 
        int diff = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
         
        // Find the largest j such that dp[n][j]
        // is true where j loops from sum/2 t0 0
        for (int j = sum / 2; j >= 0; j--)
        {
            // Find the 
            if (dp[n][j] == true)
            {
                diff = sum - 2 * j;
                break;
            }
        }
        return diff;
    }
     
    // Driver program 
    public static void main (String[] args) 
    {
        int arr[] = {3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1};
        int n = arr.length;
        System.out.println ("The minimum difference between 2 sets is "
                            + findMin(arr, n));
     
    }
}
// This code is contributed by vt_m

Python3

# A Recursive Python3 program to solve
# minimum sum partition problem.
import sys
 
# Returns the minimum value of the 
# difference of the two sets.
def findMin(a, n):
     
    su = 0
     
    # Calculate sum of all elements 
    su = sum(a)
 
    # Create an 2d list to store 
    # results of subproblems
    dp = [[0 for i in range(su + 1)] 
             for j in range(n + 1)]
 
    # Initialize first column as true.
    # 0 sum is possible 
    # with all elements. 
    for i in range(n + 1):
        dp[i][0] = True
         
    # Initialize top row, except dp[0][0],
    # as false. With 0 elements, no other 
    # sum except 0 is possible
    for j in range(1, su + 1):
        dp[0][j] = False
     
    # Fill the partition table in 
    # bottom up manner
    for i in range(1, n + 1):
        for j in range(1, su + 1):
             
            # If i'th element is excluded 
            dp[i][j] = dp[i - 1][j]
             
            # If i'th element is included
            if a[i - 1] <= j:
                dp[i][j] |= dp[i - 1][j - a[i - 1]]
     
    # Initialize difference 
    # of two sums.
    diff = sys.maxsize
 
    # Find the largest j such that dp[n][j] 
    # is true where j loops from sum/2 t0 0 
    for j in range(su // 2, -1, -1):
        if dp[n][j] == True:
            diff = su - (2 * j)
            break
             
    return diff
     
# Driver code
a = [ 3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1 ]
n = len(a)
     
print("The minimum difference between "
      "2 sets is ", findMin(a, n))
 
# This code is contributed by Tokir Manva

C#

// A Recursive C# program to solve 
// minimum sum partition problem.
using System;
 
class GFG{
     
// Returns the minimum value of 
//the difference of the two sets.
static int findMin(int []arr, int n)
{
     
    // Calculate sum of all elements
    int sum = 0; 
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i++)
        sum += arr[i];
 
    // Create an array to store 
    // results of subproblems
    bool [,]dp = new bool[n + 1, sum + 1];
 
    // Initialize first column as true. 
    // 0 sum is possible  with all elements.
    for(int i = 0; i <= n; i++)
        dp[i, 0] = true;
 
    // Initialize top row, except dp[0,0], 
    // as false. With 0 elements, no other 
    // sum except 0 is possible
    for(int i = 1; i <= sum; i++)
        dp[0, i] = false;
 
    // Fill the partition table 
    // in bottom up manner
    for(int i = 1; i <= n; i++)
    {
        for(int j = 1; j <= sum; j++)
        {
             
            // If i'th element is excluded
            dp[i, j] = dp[i - 1, j];
 
            // If i'th element is included
            if (arr[i - 1] <= j)
                dp[i, j] |= dp[i - 1, j - arr[i - 1]];
        }
    }
 
    // Initialize difference of two sums. 
    int diff = int.MaxValue;
     
    // Find the largest j such that dp[n,j]
    // is true where j loops from sum/2 t0 0
    for(int j = sum / 2; j >= 0; j--)
    {
         
        // Find the 
        if (dp[n, j] == true)
        {
            diff = sum - 2 * j;
            break;
        }
    }
    return diff;
}
 
// Driver code
public static void Main(String[] args) 
{
    int []arr = { 3, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1 };
    int n = arr.Length;
     
    Console.WriteLine("The minimum difference " +
                      "between 2 sets is " + 
                      findMin(arr, n));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji

Output:

The minimum difference between 2 sets is 1

Time Complexity = O(n*sum) where n is the number of elements and sum is the sum of all elements.

Note that the above solution is in Pseudo Polynomial Time (time complexity is dependent on the numeric value of input).
This article is contributed by Abhiraj Smit. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.

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