Intro

Complete search (brute force) examines all possible solutions to find the answer. It's often the first approach and sometimes the only approach.

When to use:

• Small input size ($n \leq 20$ for $O(2^n)$, $n \leq 10$ for $O(n!)$).
• No efficient algorithm exists.
• As a baseline to verify optimized solutions.

I'll show you enumeration techniques, meet-in-the-middle optimization, and how to estimate if brute force will pass time limits.