Divide and Conquer
In plain terms
Solving a problem by breaking it into smaller subproblems.
Going deeper
Divide-and-conquer splits a problem into independent subproblems, solves them recursively, and combines results. Many efficient algorithms follow this pattern.
Under the hood
Often yields O(n log n) solutions; the recurrence's structure determines complexity (Master Theorem).
Examples
Merge sort, quicksort, binary search, FFT, Karatsuba multiplication.
Think of it like...
Like splitting a big cleanup among rooms, tidying each, then combining the results.