TopK问题即如何从大量数据中找出前K个数(数之间可比较,较大的排前面)。
注:这里使用数的概念,并不一定是数字,可以是任何对象,对象之间可以比较大小。
实际场景:比如搜索引擎找出得分最高的10篇文章,歌曲库中统计下载率最高的前10首歌等等。
下面探导有哪些实现方式:
方法一、将全部数据存放数组,然后对数组排序(大到小排),取出前K个数即可。
这种方式是最直接、最容易想到的方式。但由于是大量数据,存储和排序过程对内存、CPU资源消耗很大、效率低,不推荐使用。
方法二、从全部数据中取出K个数存入K大小的数组a中,对a按从小到大排序,则a[0]为最小值。然后依次取出其余数据,每取出一个数,都与a[0]比较,如果比a[0]小或相等,则取下一个数;反之,则丢弃a[0]的值,利用二分法找到其位置,然后该位置前的数组元素整体向前移动,如此反复读取,直到数据结尾。
这比方法一效率有很大提高,但如果K比较大时,整体移动也是比较耗时的
对于这种问题,效率比较高的解决方式是使用最小堆
最小堆(小根堆)是一种数据结构,它首先是一颗完全二叉树,并且,它所有父节点的值小于或等于两个子节点的值
最小堆的实际存储可以是数组,或者链表,用链表会更加灵活。
下面给出最小堆的一种JAVA实现方式(来自lucene源代码)
public abstract class PriorityQueue<T> {
private int size;
private final int maxSize;
private final T[] heap;
public PriorityQueue(int maxSize) {
this(maxSize, true);
}
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public PriorityQueue(int maxSize, boolean prepopulate) {
size = 0;
int heapSize;
if (0 == maxSize) {
// We allocate 1 extra to avoid if statement in top()
heapSize = 2;
} else {
if (maxSize > ArrayUtil.MAX_ARRAY_LENGTH) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("maxSize must be <= " + ArrayUtil.MAX_ARRAY_LENGTH + "; got: " + maxSize);
} else {
// NOTE: we add +1 because all access to heap is
// 1-based not 0-based. heap[0] is unused.
heapSize = maxSize + 1;
}
}
heap = (T[]) new Object[heapSize]; // T is unbounded type, so this unchecked cast works always
this.maxSize = maxSize;
if (prepopulate) {
// If sentinel objects are supported, populate the queue with them
T sentinel = getSentinelObject();
if (sentinel != null) {
heap[1] = sentinel;
for (int i = 2; i < heap.length; i++) {
heap[i] = getSentinelObject();
}
size = maxSize;
}
}
}
/** Determines the ordering of objects in this priority queue. Subclasses
* must define this one method.
* @return <code>true</code> iff parameter <tt>a</tt> is less than parameter <tt>b</tt>.
*/
protected abstract boolean lessThan(T a, T b);
/**
* This method can be overridden by extending classes to return a sentinel
* object which will be used by the {@link PriorityQueue#PriorityQueue(int,boolean)}
* constructor to fill the queue, so that the code which uses that queue can always
* assume it's full and only change the top without attempting to insert any new
* object.<br>
*
* Those sentinel values should always compare worse than any non-sentinel
* value (i.e., {@link #lessThan} should always favor the
* non-sentinel values).<br>
*
* By default, this method returns false, which means the queue will not be
* filled with sentinel values. Otherwise, the value returned will be used to
* pre-populate the queue. Adds sentinel values to the queue.<br>
*
* If this method is extended to return a non-null value, then the following
* usage pattern is recommended:
*
* <pre class="prettyprint">
* // extends getSentinelObject() to return a non-null value.
* PriorityQueue<MyObject> pq = new MyQueue<MyObject>(numHits);
* // save the 'top' element, which is guaranteed to not be null.
* MyObject pqTop = pq.top();
* <...>
* // now in order to add a new element, which is 'better' than top (after
* // you've verified it is better), it is as simple as:
* pqTop.change().
* pqTop = pq.updateTop();
* </pre>
*
* <b>NOTE:</b> if this method returns a non-null value, it will be called by
* the {@link PriorityQueue#PriorityQueue(int,boolean)} constructor
* {@link #size()} times, relying on a new object to be returned and will not
* check if it's null again. Therefore you should ensure any call to this
* method creates a new instance and behaves consistently, e.g., it cannot
* return null if it previously returned non-null.
*
* @return the sentinel object to use to pre-populate the queue, or null if
* sentinel objects are not supported.
*/
protected T getSentinelObject() {
return null;
}
/**
* Adds an Object to a PriorityQueue in log(size) time. If one tries to add
* more objects than maxSize from initialize an
* {@link ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException} is thrown.
*
* @return the new 'top' element in the queue.
*/
public final T add(T element) {
size++;
heap[size] = element;
upHeap();
return heap[1];
}
/**
* Adds an Object to a PriorityQueue in log(size) time.
* It returns the object (if any) that was
* dropped off the heap because it was full. This can be
* the given parameter (in case it is smaller than the
* full heap's minimum, and couldn't be added), or another
* object that was previously the smallest value in the
* heap and now has been replaced by a larger one, or null
* if the queue wasn't yet full with maxSize elements.
*/
public T insertWithOverflow(T element) {
if (size < maxSize) {
add(element);
return null;
} else if (size > 0 && !lessThan(element, heap[1])) {
T ret = heap[1];
heap[1] = element;
updateTop();
return ret;
} else {
return element;
}
}
/** Returns the least element of the PriorityQueue in constant time. */
public final T top() {
// We don't need to check size here: if maxSize is 0,
// then heap is length 2 array with both entries null.
// If size is 0 then heap[1] is already null.
return heap[1];
}
/** Removes and returns the least element of the PriorityQueue in log(size)
time. */
public final T pop() {
if (size > 0) {
T result = heap[1]; // save first value
heap[1] = heap[size]; // move last to first
heap[size] = null; // permit GC of objects
size--;
downHeap(); // adjust heap
return result;
} else {
return null;
}
}
/**
* Should be called when the Object at top changes values. Still log(n) worst
* case, but it's at least twice as fast to
*
* <pre class="prettyprint">
* pq.top().change();
* pq.updateTop();
* </pre>
*
* instead of
*
* <pre class="prettyprint">
* o = pq.pop();
* o.change();
* pq.push(o);
* </pre>
*
* @return the new 'top' element.
*/
public final T updateTop() {
downHeap();
return heap[1];
}
/** Returns the number of elements currently stored in the PriorityQueue. */
public final int size() {
return size;
}
/** Removes all entries from the PriorityQueue. */
public final void clear() {
for (int i = 0; i <= size; i++) {
heap[i] = null;
}
size = 0;
}
private final void upHeap() {
int i = size;
T node = heap[i]; // save bottom node
int j = i >>> 1;
while (j > 0 && lessThan(node, heap[j])) {
heap[i] = heap[j]; // shift parents down
i = j;
j = j >>> 1;
}
heap[i] = node; // install saved node
}
private final void downHeap() {
int i = 1;
T node = heap[i]; // save top node
int j = i << 1; // find smaller child
int k = j + 1;
if (k <= size && lessThan(heap[k], heap[j])) {
j = k;
}
while (j <= size && lessThan(heap[j], node)) {
heap[i] = heap[j]; // shift up child
i = j;
j = i << 1;
k = j + 1;
if (k <= size && lessThan(heap[k], heap[j])) {
j = k;
}
}
heap[i] = node; // install saved node
}
/** This method returns the internal heap array as Object[].
* @lucene.internal
*/
protected final Object[] getHeapArray() {
return (Object[]) heap;
}
}
上面的抽象类封装了最小堆的一些基本操作,包括如何初始化最小堆、新增元素、弹出元素、调整根元素到适当位置等操作。在进行这些操作时,保证了最小堆的基本性质,即父结点的值小于或等于两个子结点值。
由于是抽象类,需要子类继续该类,并提供自己的lessThan方法的实现。
子类在使用时,需要先调用父类public PriorityQueue(int maxSize)或public PriorityQueue(int maxSize, boolean prepopulate)构造方法。
注:public PriorityQueue(int maxSize)实际是调用了后一个构造方法,参数prepopulate值为true
子类可重写protected T getSentinelObject()方法来决定是否要预填充堆,当该返回方法不为NULL时,且调用构造方法时参数prepopulate为true时,会预填充堆,即堆成员变量 T[] heap 数组的每个元素(除第一个元素外)赋上了非NULL值,且size赋值为maxSize的值,代表数组中已经有maxSize个元素;
注:size表示当前堆中元素实际个数,maxSize表示堆中可容纳的总元素,即容量。
另需要说明下,如果getSentinelObject()返回非NULL值,需要保证每次调用该方法,返回的都是new出来的新对象,而且该对象比其它任何对象的优先级都要低或相当,即lessThan(sentinelObject, otherObject)返回true
在初始化最小堆后,如果堆中未填充元素,可调用add方法新增元素到堆中;如果已经填充了元素,可调用top方法获取树最顶端元素,即根元素,改变根元素的一些值,当根元素改变时,需要子类调用public final T updateTop()方法来将根元素调整到适当位置。
注:由于最小堆的目的是存放前K个元素,在每次调用add方法前都要拿欲加入元素与根元素比较,如果小于或等于根元素,就不要执行add方法。同理,在欲改变根元素的一些值时,也是要进行比较的,只有当新的值比原来的值大时,才更改,并调用updateTop()方法
然后就涉及到如何取出堆中K个元素,这时就要循环调用pop()方法,每次调用都会弹出根元素,并存入数组或列表。由最小堆的性质可知,先弹出的元素肯定是要小于或等于后面的元素,这样就得到了排好序的前K个元素。
最小堆新增元素的时间复杂度为log(N)