Characteristics of problems suited to Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer is ideal for problems that can be broken down into independent, smaller subproblems. Here are some key characteristics:

1. Problem can be divided into similar subproblems: Each subproblem resembles the original problem.
2. Subproblems can be solved independently: They don’t rely on each other’s results in an overlapping way.
3. Solutions to subproblems can be combined to solve the main problem: This step is crucial in making the whole approach work.

Some classic examples are sorting (like mergesort) and finding the closest pair of points. What do you think would happen if the subproblems were not independent?