What is the main advantage of using union by rank in Disjoint Set Union?
Practice Questions
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Q1
What is the main advantage of using union by rank in Disjoint Set Union?
It increases the size of the sets
It minimizes the height of the trees
It allows for faster sorting
It simplifies the code
The main advantage of using union by rank is that it minimizes the height of the trees, leading to more efficient 'Find' operations.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the main advantage of using union by rank in Disjoint Set Union?
Solution: The main advantage of using union by rank is that it minimizes the height of the trees, leading to more efficient 'Find' operations.
Steps: 8
Step 1: Understand what a Disjoint Set Union (DSU) is. It is a data structure that keeps track of a set of elements partitioned into disjoint (non-overlapping) subsets.
Step 2: Learn about the 'Find' operation. This operation helps to determine which subset a particular element belongs to.
Step 3: Know about the 'Union' operation. This operation merges two subsets into a single subset.
Step 4: Recognize that in DSU, elements are often represented as trees. Each tree represents a subset.
Step 5: Understand what 'rank' means. Rank is a way to estimate the height of the tree. A tree with a lower height is more efficient for 'Find' operations.
Step 6: Learn about 'union by rank'. This technique merges two trees by attaching the shorter tree under the root of the taller tree.
Step 7: Realize that by using union by rank, the overall height of the trees is minimized.
Step 8: Conclude that minimizing the height of the trees leads to faster 'Find' operations, making the DSU more efficient.