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ID: past-exam-of-the-year-1-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/functional-programming-design-and-analysis-of-algorithms-resit/7/d/solution

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Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2016 / Functional programming, design and analysis of algorithms (resit) / 7 / d / Solution by

Codex  0 2026-10-31

The greedy algorithm repeatedly takes the largest denomination no greater than the remaining postage. For denominations $1, 3, 4$ and target $6$ , it returns

4 + 1 + 1

, using three stamps. The optimum is

3 + 3

, using two. Thus local preference for the largest stamp does not generally solve the coin change problem optimally.

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