Dynamic programming facts for kids
Dynamic programming is a clever way to solve big problems by breaking them down into smaller, easier-to-solve pieces. Imagine you have a giant puzzle; dynamic programming helps you solve it by first solving all the tiny parts, then putting those solutions together to finish the whole puzzle. This method is used a lot in computer science, mathematics, and economics.
You can use dynamic programming when a big problem can be split into many smaller problems that are all quite similar. It's like solving the same mini-puzzle over and over, but each time you learn something that helps with the next one.
Who Invented Dynamic Programming?
A US mathematician named Richard E. Bellman first used the term "dynamic programming" in the 1940s. He was working on problems in a field called Control theory, which is about how to make systems work in the best possible way.
Bellman also came up with an important idea called Bellman's Principle of Optimality. This principle basically says that if you're trying to find the best way to do something, then no matter where you start or what your first step is, all the steps that follow must also be the best possible steps for the situation you're in at that moment.
An optimal policy has the property that whatever the initial state and
initial decision are, the remaining decisions must constitute an optimal policy with regard to the state resulting from the first decision.
– Bellman, 1957
This means that to find the best overall solution, each small step you take must also be the best possible step for that part of the problem.
Images for kids
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A model set of the Towers of Hanoi (with 8 disks)
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An animated solution of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle for T(4,3).
See also
In Spanish: Programación dinámica para niños
