Question

I’m trying to construct an algorithm that runs at O(nb) time with the following input/question:
input: an array A[1..n] of n different integers and an integer b (i am assuming that the numbers in A are sequential, starting at 1 ending at n, i.e. for n=4 A[1,2,3,4].
question: in how many ways can b be written as the sum of elements of the array when elements in A[] can only be used once?

I’ve kind of hit a wall on this one. I’m looking for some kind of recursive solution, but I don’t see how to avoid using repeat numbers. Like, for instance, if we started at 1 and stored all the ways to make one (just 1) then 2 (just 2) then three (3 or 2+1) etc, it shouldn’t be hard to see how many ways we can make larger numbers. But if, for instance, we take 5, we will see that it can be broken into 4+1, and 4 can be further broken down into 3+1, so then we would see 2 solutions (4+1, and 3+1+1), but one of those has a repeat of a number. Am I missing something obvious? Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Let F(x,i) be the number of ways elements of A[1:i] can be summed to get x.

F(x,i+1) = F(x-A[i+1],i) + F(x,i)

That is it!