转载自USACO的训练指导

Programming Contest Problem Types

Hal Burch conducted an analysis over spring break of 1999 and made an amazing discovery: there are only 16 types of programming contest problems! Furthermore, the top several comprise almost 80% of the problems seen at the IOI. Here they are:

• Dynamic Programming
• Greedy
• Complete Search
• Flood Fill
• Shortest Path
• Recursive Search Techniques
• Minimum Spanning Tree
• Knapsack
• Computational Geometry
• Network Flow
• Eulerian Path
• Two-Dimensional Convex Hull
• BigNums
• Heuristic Search
• Approximate Search
• Ad Hoc Problems

The most challenging problems are Combination Problems which involve a loop (combinations, subsets, etc.) around one of the above algorithms - or even a loop of one algorithm with another inside it. These seem extraordinarily tricky to get right, even though conceptually they are ``obvious''.

If you can master solving just 40% of these problem types, you can almost guarantee a silver medal at the IOI. Mastering 80% moves you into the gold range almost for sure. Of course, `mastery' is a tough nut to crack! We'll be supplying a plethora of problems so that you can hone your skills in the quest for international fame.

Ad Hoc Problems

`Ad hoc' problems are those whose algorithms do not fall into standard categories with well-studied solutions. Each ad hoc problem is different; no specific or general techniques exist to solve them.

Of course, this makes the problems the `fun' ones, since each one presents a new challenge. The solutions might require a novel data structure or an unusual set of loops or conditionals. Sometimes they require special combinations that are rare or at least rarely encountered.

Ad hoc problems usually require careful reading and usually yield to an attack that revolves around carefully sequencing the instructions given in the problem.

Ad hoc problems can still require reasonable optimizations and at least a degree of analysis that enables one to avoid loops nested five deep, for example.

More ad hoc problems appear on this web site than any other kind of problem. Always be ready for an ad hoc problem if you can not classify a problem as one of the other standard types (to be listed later).