> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://soveet-nayak.gitbook.io/algorithms/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://soveet-nayak.gitbook.io/algorithms/greedy-method/introduction.md).

# Introduction

The Greedy Method The greedy method is a general algorithm design paradigm, built on the following elements:

* configurations: different choices, collections, or values to find 
* objective function: a score assigned to configurations, which we want to either maximize or minimize 

It works best when applied to problems with the greedy-choice property: 

* A globally-optimal solution can always be found by a series of local improvements from a starting configuration.
* The sequence of choices starts from some well-understood starting configuration, and then iteratively makes the decision that is best from all of those that are currently possible, in terms of improving the objective function.

![](https://99772386-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Ml1CeryuEyvAp_NEaaR%2Fuploads%2FJvzelydQGjx1yKacjErf%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=bf9f1dc8-efcb-483f-b32c-f532ff3b2d02)