Given a set of non-negative integers, and a value sum, determine if there is a subset of the given set with sum equal to given sum.

Examples: set[] = {3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2}, sum = 9
Output:  True  //There is a subset (4, 5) with sum 9.

Let isSubSetSum(int set[], int n, int sum) be the function to find whether there is a subset of set[] with sum equal to sum. n is the number of elements in set[].

The isSubsetSum problem can be divided into two subproblems
…a) Include the last element, recur for n = n-1, sum = sum – set[n-1] …b) Exclude the last element, recur for n = n-1.
If any of the above the above subproblems return true, then return true.

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Following is the recursive formula for isSubsetSum() problem.

isSubsetSum(set, n, sum) = isSubsetSum(set, n-1, sum) || 
                           isSubsetSum(set, n-1, sum-set[n-1])
Base Cases:
isSubsetSum(set, n, sum) = false, if sum > 0 and n == 0
isSubsetSum(set, n, sum) = true, if sum == 0 

Following is naive recursive implementation that simply follows the recursive structure mentioned above.

Java
// A recursive solution for subset sum problem
class subset_sum
{
    // Returns true if there is a subset of set[] with sum
        // equal to given sum
    static boolean isSubsetSum(int set[], int n, int sum)
    {
       // Base Cases
       if (sum == 0)
         return true;
       if (n == 0 && sum != 0)
         return false;
      
       // If last element is greater than sum, then ignore it
       if (set[n-1] > sum)
         return isSubsetSum(set, n-1, sum);
      
       /* else, check if sum can be obtained by any of the following
          (a) including the last element
          (b) excluding the last element   */
       return isSubsetSum(set, n-1, sum) || 
                                   isSubsetSum(set, n-1, sum-set[n-1]);
    }
    /* Driver program to test above function */
    public static void main (String args[])
    {
          int set[] = {3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2};
          int sum = 9;
          int n = set.length;
          if (isSubsetSum(set, n, sum) == true)
             System.out.println("Found a subset with given sum");
          else
             System.out.println("No subset with given sum");
    }
}

Output :

 Found a subset with given sum

The above solution may try all subsets of given set in worst case. Therefore time complexity of the above solution is exponential. The problem is in-fact NP-Complete (There is no known polynomial time solution for this problem).

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We can solve the problem in Pseudo-polynomial time using Dynamic programming. We create a boolean 2D table subset[][] and fill it in bottom up manner. The value of subset[i][j] will be true if there is a subset of set[0..j-1] with sum equal to i., otherwise false. Finally, we return subset[sum][n]

Java
// A Dynamic Programming solution for subset sum problem
class subset_sum
{
    // Returns true if there is a subset of set[] with sun equal to given sum
    static boolean isSubsetSum(int set[], int n, int sum)
    {
        // The value of subset[i][j] will be true if there 
            // is a subset of set[0..j-1] with sum equal to i
        boolean subset[][] = new boolean[sum+1][n+1];
      
        // If sum is 0, then answer is true
        for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++)
          subset[0][i] = true;
      
        // If sum is not 0 and set is empty, then answer is false
        for (int i = 1; i <= sum; i++)
          subset[i][0] = false;
      
         // Fill the subset table in botton up manner
         for (int i = 1; i <= sum; i++)
         {
           for (int j = 1; j <= n; j++)
           {
             subset[i][j] = subset[i][j-1];
             if (i >= set[j-1])
               subset[i][j] = subset[i][j] || 
                                          subset[i - set[j-1]][j-1];
           }
         }
      
        /* // uncomment this code to print table
         for (int i = 0; i <= sum; i++)
         {
           for (int j = 0; j <= n; j++)
              printf ("%4d", subset[i][j]);
           printf("\n");
         } */
      
         return subset[sum][n];
    }
    /* Driver program to test above function */
    public static void main (String args[])
    {
          int set[] = {3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2};
          int sum = 9;
          int n = set.length;
          if (isSubsetSum(set, n, sum) == true)
             System.out.println("Found a subset with given sum");
          else
             System.out.println("No subset with given sum");
    }
}

Output:

Found a subset with given sum

Time complexity of the above solution is O(sum*n).

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