freeCodeCamp/guide/english/computer-science/dynamic-programming/index.md

---
title: Dynamic Programming
---

## Dynamic Programming

Dynamic Programming(DP) is a programming technique for solving problems where the computations of its subproblems overlap: you write your program in a way that avoids recomputing already solved problems.
This technique is usually applied in conjunction with memoization which is an optimization technique where you cache previously computed results, and return the cached result when the same computation is needed again.

An example with Fibonacci's series which is defined as:

```F(N) = F(N-1) + F(N-2)```

This is the tree to find F(5):

![Fibonacci serie's tree](https://i.stack.imgur.com/59Rpw.png)

To compute F(5) it will need to compute many times the same F(i). Using recursion:

```python
def fib(n)
{
    if n <= 1:
        return n
    return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2);
}
```

And below is the optimised solution (using DP)

For F(5), this solution will generate the calls depicted in the image above, running in O(2^N).

Here is an optimised solution which uses DP and memoization:

```python
lookup = {1 : 1, 2 : 1} # Create a lookup-table (a map) inizialized with the first 2 Fibonacci's numbers

def fib(n)
{
    if n in lookup: # If n is already computed
        return n # Return the previous computed solution
    else 
        lookup[n] = fib(n-1) + fib(n-2) # Else, do the recursion.
    return lookup[n]
}
```
Caching computed solutions in a lookup table, and querying it before going for recursion will let the program have a running time of O(N).

#### Tabulation vs Memoization

In addition to *memoization* (used in the previous example), there is also *tabulation*, which uses a bottom-up approach rather than memoization's top-down approach. Tabulation always tabulates every potential value, while memoization only calculates, or memoizes, the needed values. Tabulation avoids any recursion, however, so both are useful for different situations. Read more about tabulation vs. memoization [here](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/tabulation-vs-memoizatation/).

#### More Information:

[What is dynamic programming on StackOverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1065433/what-is-dynamic-programming")
[Difference between memoization and DP on StackOverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6184869/what-is-the-difference-between-memoization-and-dynamic-programming)
[Why DP rather than function calling or looping](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-dynamic-programming-and-recursion)