top_n.h

Go to the documentation of this file.

// Copyright 2010-2025 Google LLC
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
 
// ref:
// https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/master/tensorflow/core/lib/gtl/top_n.h
// This simple class finds the top n elements of an incrementally provided set
// of elements which you push one at a time.  If the number of elements exceeds
// n, the lowest elements are incrementally dropped.  At the end you get
// a vector of the top elements sorted in descending order (through Extract() or
// ExtractNondestructive()), or a vector of the top elements but not sorted
// (through ExtractUnsorted() or ExtractUnsortedNondestructive()).
//
// The value n is specified in the constructor.  If there are p elements pushed
// altogether:
//   The total storage requirements are O(min(n, p)) elements
//   The running time is O(p * log(min(n, p))) comparisons
// If n is a constant, the total storage required is a constant and the running
// time is linear in p.
 
#ifndef OR_TOOLS_BASE_TOP_N_H_
#define OR_TOOLS_BASE_TOP_N_H_
 
#include <stddef.h>
 
#include <algorithm>
#include <functional>
#include <vector>
 
namespace operations_research {
namespace gtl {
// Cmp is an stl binary predicate.  Note that Cmp is the "greater" predicate,
// not the more commonly used "less" predicate.
//
// If you use a "less" predicate here, the TopN will pick out the bottom N
// elements out of the ones passed to it, and it will return them sorted in
// ascending order.
//
// TopN is rule-of-zero copyable and movable if its members are.
template <class T, class Cmp = std::greater<T> >
class TopN {
 public:
  // The TopN is in one of the three states:
  //
  //  o UNORDERED: this is the state an instance is originally in,
  //    where the elements are completely orderless.
  //
  //  o BOTTOM_KNOWN: in this state, we keep the invariant that there
  //    is at least one element in it, and the lowest element is at
  //    position 0. The elements in other positions remain
  //    unsorted. This state is reached if the state was originally
  //    UNORDERED and a peek_bottom() function call is invoked.
  //
  //  o HEAP_SORTED: in this state, the array is kept as a heap and
  //    there are exactly (limit_+1) elements in the array. This
  //    state is reached when at least (limit_+1) elements are
  //    pushed in.
  //
  //  The state transition graph is at follows:
  //
  //             peek_bottom()                (limit_+1) elements
  //  UNORDERED --------------> BOTTOM_KNOWN --------------------> HEAP_SORTED
  //      |                                                           ^
  //      |                      (limit_+1) elements                  |
  //      +-----------------------------------------------------------+
  enum State { UNORDERED, BOTTOM_KNOWN, HEAP_SORTED };
  using UnsortedIterator = typename std::vector<T>::const_iterator;
  // 'limit' is the maximum number of top results to return.
  explicit TopN(size_t limit) : TopN(limit, Cmp()) {}
  TopN(size_t limit, const Cmp& cmp) : limit_(limit), cmp_(cmp) {}
  size_t limit() const { return limit_; }
  // Number of elements currently held by this TopN object.  This
  // will be no greater than 'limit' passed to the constructor.
  size_t size() const { return std::min(elements_.size(), limit_); }
  bool empty() const { return size() == 0; }
  // If you know how many elements you will push at the time you create the
  // TopN object, you can call reserve to preallocate the memory that TopN
  // will need to process all 'n' pushes.  Calling this method is optional.
  void reserve(size_t n) { elements_.reserve(std::min(n, limit_ + 1)); }
  // Push 'v'.  If the maximum number of elements was exceeded, drop the
  // lowest element and return it in 'dropped' (if given). If the maximum is not
  // exceeded, 'dropped' will remain unchanged. 'dropped' may be omitted or
  // nullptr, in which case it is not filled in.
  // Requires: T is CopyAssignable, Swappable
  void push(const T& v) { push(v, nullptr); }
  void push(const T& v, T* dropped) { PushInternal(v, dropped); }
  // Move overloads of push.
  // Requires: T is MoveAssignable, Swappable
  void push(T&& v) {  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
    push(std::move(v), nullptr);
  }
  void push(T&& v, T* dropped) {  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
    PushInternal(std::move(v), dropped);
  }
  // Peeks the bottom result without calling Extract()
  const T& peek_bottom();
  // Destructively extract the elements as a vector, sorted in descending order.
  // Leaves TopN in an empty state.
  std::vector<T> Take();
  // Extract the elements as a vector sorted in descending order.  The caller
  // assumes ownership of the vector and must delete it when done.  This is a
  // destructive operation.  The only method that can be called immediately
  // after Extract() is Reset().
  std::vector<T>* Extract();
  // Similar to Extract(), but makes no guarantees the elements are in sorted
  // order.  As with Extract(), the caller assumes ownership of the vector and
  // must delete it when done.  This is a destructive operation.  The only
  // method that can be called immediately after ExtractUnsorted() is Reset().
  std::vector<T>* ExtractUnsorted();
  // A non-destructive version of Extract(). Copy the elements in a new vector
  // sorted in descending order and return it.  The caller assumes ownership of
  // the new vector and must delete it when done.  After calling
  // ExtractNondestructive(), the caller can continue to push() new elements.
  std::vector<T>* ExtractNondestructive() const;
  // A non-destructive version of Extract(). Copy the elements to a given
  // vector sorted in descending order. After calling
  // ExtractNondestructive(), the caller can continue to push() new elements.
  // Note:
  //  1. The given argument must to be allocated.
  //  2. Any data contained in the vector prior to the call will be deleted
  //     from it. After the call the vector will contain only the elements
  //     from the data structure.
  void ExtractNondestructive(std::vector<T>* output) const;
  // A non-destructive version of ExtractUnsorted(). Copy the elements in a new
  // vector and return it, with no guarantees the elements are in sorted order.
  // The caller assumes ownership of the new vector and must delete it when
  // done.  After calling ExtractUnsortedNondestructive(), the caller can
  // continue to push() new elements.
  std::vector<T>* ExtractUnsortedNondestructive() const;
  // A non-destructive version of ExtractUnsorted(). Copy the elements into
  // a given vector, with no guarantees the elements are in sorted order.
  // After calling ExtractUnsortedNondestructive(), the caller can continue
  // to push() new elements.
  // Note:
  //  1. The given argument must to be allocated.
  //  2. Any data contained in the vector prior to the call will be deleted
  //     from it. After the call the vector will contain only the elements
  //     from the data structure.
  void ExtractUnsortedNondestructive(std::vector<T>* output) const;
  // Return an iterator to the beginning (end) of the container,
  // with no guarantees about the order of iteration. These iterators are
  // invalidated by mutation of the data structure.
  UnsortedIterator unsorted_begin() const { return elements_.begin(); }
  UnsortedIterator unsorted_end() const { return elements_.begin() + size(); }
  // Accessor for comparator template argument.
  Cmp* comparator() { return &cmp_; }
  // This removes all elements.  If Extract() or ExtractUnsorted() have been
  // called, this will put it back in an empty but useable state.
  void Reset();
 
 private:
  template <typename U>
  void PushInternal(
      U&& v,
      T* dropped);  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
                    // elements_ can be in one of two states:
                    //   elements_.size() <= limit_:  elements_ is an unsorted
                    //   vector of elements
                    //      pushed so far.
                    //   elements_.size() > limit_:  The last element of
                    //   elements_ is unused;
                    //      the other elements of elements_ are an stl heap
                    //      whose size is exactly limit_.  In this case
                    //      elements_.size() is exactly one greater than limit_,
                    //      but don't use "elements_.size() == limit_ + 1" to
                    //      check for that because you'll get a false positive
                    //      if limit_ == size_t(-1).
  std::vector<T> elements_;
  size_t limit_;  // Maximum number of elements to find
  Cmp cmp_;       // Greater-than comparison function
  State state_ = UNORDERED;
};
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Implementations of non-inline functions
template <class T, class Cmp>
template <typename U>
void TopN<T, Cmp>::PushInternal(U&& v, T* dropped) {  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
  if (limit_ == 0) {
    if (dropped) *dropped = std::forward<U>(v);  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
    return;
  }
  if (state_ != HEAP_SORTED) {
    elements_.push_back(std::forward<U>(v));  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
    if (state_ == UNORDERED || cmp_(elements_.back(), elements_.front())) {
      // Easy case: we just pushed the new element back
    } else {
      // To maintain the BOTTOM_KNOWN state, we need to make sure that
      // the element at position 0 is always the smallest. So we put
      // the new element at position 0 and push the original bottom
      // element in the back.
      // Warning: this code is subtle.
      using std::swap;
      swap(elements_.front(), elements_.back());
    }
    if (elements_.size() == limit_ + 1) {
      // Transition from unsorted vector to a heap.
      std::make_heap(elements_.begin(), elements_.end(), cmp_);
      if (dropped) *dropped = std::move(elements_.front());
      std::pop_heap(elements_.begin(), elements_.end(), cmp_);
      state_ = HEAP_SORTED;
    }
  } else {
    // Only insert the new element if it is greater than the least element.
    if (cmp_(v, elements_.front())) {
      // Store new element in the last slot of elements_.  Remember from the
      // comments on elements_ that this last slot is unused, so we don't
      // overwrite anything useful.
      elements_.back() = std::forward<U>(
          v);  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
               // stp::pop_heap() swaps elements_.front() and elements_.back()
               // and rearranges elements from [elements_.begin(),
               // elements_.end() - 1) such that they are a heap according to
               // cmp_.  Net effect: remove elements_.front() from the heap, and
               // add the new element instead.  For more info, see
               // https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/algorithm/pop_heap.
      std::pop_heap(elements_.begin(), elements_.end(), cmp_);
      if (dropped) *dropped = std::move(elements_.back());
    } else {
      if (dropped) *dropped = std::forward<U>(v);  // NOLINT(build/c++11)
    }
  }
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
const T& TopN<T, Cmp>::peek_bottom() {
  CHECK(!empty());
  if (state_ == UNORDERED) {
    // We need to do a linear scan to find out the bottom element
    int min_candidate = 0;
    for (size_t i = 1; i < elements_.size(); ++i) {
      if (cmp_(elements_[min_candidate], elements_[i])) {
        min_candidate = i;
      }
    }
    // By swapping the element at position 0 and the minimal
    // element, we transition to the BOTTOM_KNOWN state
    if (min_candidate != 0) {
      using std::swap;
      swap(elements_[0], elements_[min_candidate]);
    }
    state_ = BOTTOM_KNOWN;
  }
  return elements_.front();
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
std::vector<T> TopN<T, Cmp>::Take() {
  std::vector<T> out = std::move(elements_);
  if (state_ != State::HEAP_SORTED) {
    std::sort(out.begin(), out.end(), cmp_);
  } else {
    out.pop_back();
    std::sort_heap(out.begin(), out.end(), cmp_);
  }
  Reset();
  return out;
}
 
template <class T, class Cmp>
std::vector<T>* TopN<T, Cmp>::Extract() {
  auto out = new std::vector<T>;
  out->swap(elements_);
  if (state_ != HEAP_SORTED) {
    std::sort(out->begin(), out->end(), cmp_);
  } else {
    out->pop_back();
    std::sort_heap(out->begin(), out->end(), cmp_);
  }
  return out;
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
std::vector<T>* TopN<T, Cmp>::ExtractUnsorted() {
  auto out = new std::vector<T>;
  out->swap(elements_);
  if (state_ == HEAP_SORTED) {
    // Remove the limit_+1'th element.
    out->pop_back();
  }
  return out;
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
std::vector<T>* TopN<T, Cmp>::ExtractNondestructive() const {
  auto out = new std::vector<T>;
  ExtractNondestructive(out);
  return out;
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
void TopN<T, Cmp>::ExtractNondestructive(std::vector<T>* output) const {
  CHECK(output);
  *output = elements_;
  if (state_ != HEAP_SORTED) {
    std::sort(output->begin(), output->end(), cmp_);
  } else {
    output->pop_back();
    std::sort_heap(output->begin(), output->end(), cmp_);
  }
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
std::vector<T>* TopN<T, Cmp>::ExtractUnsortedNondestructive() const {
  auto elements = new std::vector<T>;
  ExtractUnsortedNondestructive(elements);
  return elements;
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
void TopN<T, Cmp>::ExtractUnsortedNondestructive(std::vector<T>* output) const {
  CHECK(output);
  *output = elements_;
  if (state_ == HEAP_SORTED) {
    // Remove the limit_+1'th element.
    output->pop_back();
  }
}
template <class T, class Cmp>
void TopN<T, Cmp>::Reset() {
  elements_.clear();
  state_ = UNORDERED;
}
}  // namespace gtl
}  // namespace operations_research
#endif  // OR_TOOLS_BASE_TOP_N_H_