Starting top-down, refining bottom-up, sharpening by zoom-in
David Ginat · ACM SIGCSE Bulletin · 2001
We illustrate with colorful algorithmic problems two solution processes that embed three primary computer science problem-solving approaches. The first, Top-Down approach is rather naturally invoked for formulating elegant, though inefficient divide-and-conquer rules. The second, Bottom-Up approach is utilized to considerably improve efficiency of the Top-Down solution. The third, Zoom-In approach sharply captures the precise essence of the problem characteristics and yields remarkably concise solutions.