Subset Sum Problem using Backtracking

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025

Given a set[] of non-negative integers and a value sum, the task is to print the subset of the given set whose sum is equal to the given sum.

Examples:

Input: set[] = {1,2,1}, sum = 3
Output: [1,2],[2,1]
Explanation: There are subsets [1,2],[2,1] with sum 3.
Input: set[] = {3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2}, sum = 30
Output: []
Explanation: There is no subset that add up to 30.

Subset Sum Problem using Backtracking

Subset sum can also be thought of as a special case of the 0–1 Knapsack problem. For each item, there are two possibilities:
Include the current element in the subset and recur for the remaining elements with the remaining Sum.
Exclude the current element from the subset and recur for the remaining elements.
Finally, if Sum becomes 0 then print the elements of current subset. The recursion’s base case would be when no items are left, or the sum becomes negative, then simply return.

subset_Sum_Final

Implementation of the above approach:

C++

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Print all subsets if there is atleast one subset of set[]
// with sum equal to given sum
bool flag = 0;
void PrintSubsetSum(int i, int n, int set[], int targetSum,
                    vector<int>& subset)
{
    // targetSum is zero then there exist a
    // subset.
    if (targetSum == 0) {

        // Prints valid subset
        flag = 1;
        cout << "[ ";
        for (int i = 0; i < subset.size(); i++) {
            cout << subset[i] << " ";
        }
        cout << "]";
        return;
    }

    if (i == n) {
        // return if we have reached at the end of the array
        return;
    }

    // Not considering current element
    PrintSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum, subset);

    // consider current element if it is less than or equal
    // to targetSum
    if (set[i] <= targetSum) {

        // push the current element in subset
        subset.push_back(set[i]);

        // Recursive call for consider current element
        PrintSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum - set[i],
                       subset);

        // pop-back element after recursive call to restore
        // subsets original configuration
        subset.pop_back();
    }
}

// Driver code
int main()
{
    // Test case 1
    int set[] = { 1, 2, 1 };
    int sum = 3;
    int n = sizeof(set) / sizeof(set[0]);
    vector<int> subset;
    cout << "Output 1:" << endl;
    PrintSubsetSum(0, n, set, sum, subset);
    cout << endl;
    flag = 0;
    // Test case 2
    int set2[] = { 3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2 };
    int sum2 = 30;
    int n2 = sizeof(set) / sizeof(set[0]);
    vector<int> subset2;
    cout << "Output 2:" << endl;
    PrintSubsetSum(0, n2, set2, sum2, subset2);
    if (!flag) {
        cout << "There is no such subset";
    }

    return 0;
}
// This code is contributed by Hem Kishan

Java

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class SubsetSum {

    // Flag to check if there exists a subset with the given
    // sum
    static boolean flag = false;

    // Print all subsets if there is at least one subset of
    // set[] with the sum equal to the given sum
    static void printSubsetSum(int i, int n, int[] set,
                               int targetSum,
                               List<Integer> subset)
    {
        // If targetSum is zero, then there exists a subset.
        if (targetSum == 0) {
            // Prints a valid subset
            flag = true;
            System.out.print("[ ");
            for (int j = 0; j < subset.size(); j++) {
                System.out.print(subset.get(j) + " ");
            }
            System.out.print("]");
            return;
        }

        if (i == n) {
            // Return if we have reached the end of the
            // array
            return;
        }

        // Not considering the current element
        printSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum, subset);

        // Consider the current element if it is less than
        // or equal to the targetSum
        if (set[i] <= targetSum) {
            // Push the current element in the subset
            subset.add(set[i]);

            // Recursive call for considering the current
            // element
            printSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set,
                           targetSum - set[i], subset);

            // Pop-back element after the recursive call to
            // restore the subset's original configuration
            subset.remove(subset.size() - 1);
        }
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Test case 1
        int[] set1 = { 1, 2, 1 };
        int sum1 = 3;
        int n1 = set1.length;
        List<Integer> subset1 = new ArrayList<>();
        System.out.println("Output 1:");
        printSubsetSum(0, n1, set1, sum1, subset1);
        System.out.println();
        flag = false;

        // Test case 2
        int[] set2 = { 3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2 };
        int sum2 = 30;
        int n2 = set2.length;
        List<Integer> subset2 = new ArrayList<>();
        System.out.println("Output 2:");
        printSubsetSum(0, n2, set2, sum2, subset2);
        if (!flag) {
            System.out.println("There is no such subset");
        }
    }
}

Python

# Print all subsets if there is at least one subset of set[]
# with a sum equal to the given sum
flag = False

def print_subset_sum(i, n, _set, target_sum, subset):
    global flag
    # If targetSum is zero, then there exists a subset
    if target_sum == 0:
        # Prints valid subset
        flag = True
        print("[", end=" ")
        for element in subset:
            print(element, end=" ")
        print("]", end=" ")
        return

    if i == n:
        # Return if we have reached the end of the array
        return

    # Not considering the current element
    print_subset_sum(i + 1, n, _set, target_sum, subset)

    # Consider the current element if it is less than or equal to targetSum
    if _set[i] <= target_sum:
        # Push the current element into the subset
        subset.append(_set[i])

        # Recursive call for considering the current element
        print_subset_sum(i + 1, n, _set, target_sum - _set[i], subset)

        # Remove the last element after recursive call to restore subset's original configuration
        subset.pop()

# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Test case 1
    set_1 = [1, 2, 1]
    sum_1 = 3
    n_1 = len(set_1)
    subset_1 = []
    print("Output 1:")
    print_subset_sum(0, n_1, set_1, sum_1, subset_1)
    print()
    flag = False

    # Test case 2
    set_2 = [3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2]
    sum_2 = 30
    n_2 = len(set_2)
    subset_2 = []
    print("Output 2:")
    print_subset_sum(0, n_2, set_2, sum_2, subset_2)
    if not flag:
        print("There is no such subset")

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class Program {
    // Print all subsets if there is at least one subset of
    // set[] with a sum equal to the given sum
    static bool flag = false;

    static void PrintSubsetSum(int i, int n, int[] set,
                               int targetSum,
                               List<int> subset)
    {
        // If targetSum is zero, then there exists a subset.
        if (targetSum == 0) {
            // Prints the valid subset
            flag = true;
            Console.Write("[ ");
            foreach(var item in subset)
            {
                Console.Write(item + " ");
            }
            Console.Write("]");
            return;
        }

        if (i == n) {
            // Return if we have reached the end of the
            // array
            return;
        }

        // Not considering the current element
        PrintSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum, subset);

        // Consider the current element if it is less than
        // or equal to targetSum
        if (set[i] <= targetSum) {
            // Push the current element into the subset
            subset.Add(set[i]);

            // Recursive call to consider the current
            // element
            PrintSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set,
                           targetSum - set[i], subset);

            // Remove the last element to restore the
            // subset's original configuration
            subset.RemoveAt(subset.Count - 1);
        }
    }

    // Driver code
    static void Main()
    {
        // Test case 1
        int[] set = { 1, 2, 1 };
        int sum = 3;
        int n = set.Length;
        List<int> subset = new List<int>();
        Console.WriteLine("Output 1:");
        PrintSubsetSum(0, n, set, sum, subset);
        Console.WriteLine();
        flag = false;

        // Test case 2
        int[] set2 = { 3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2 };
        int sum2 = 30;
        int n2 = set2.Length;
        List<int> subset2 = new List<int>();
        Console.WriteLine("Output 2:");
        PrintSubsetSum(0, n2, set2, sum2, subset2);
        if (!flag) {
            Console.WriteLine("There is no such subset.");
        }
    }
}

JavaScript

// Function to print all subsets if there is at least one subset of set[]
// with sum equal to the given sum
let flag = false;

function printSubsetSum(i, n, set, targetSum, subset) {
    // If targetSum is zero, there exists a valid subset
    if (targetSum === 0) {
        // Print valid subset
        flag = true;
        console.log("[ " + subset.join(" ") + " ]");
        return;
    }

    if (i === n) {
        // Return if we have reached the end of the array
        return;
    }

    // Not considering the current element
    printSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum, subset);

    // Consider the current element if it is less than or equal to targetSum
    if (set[i] <= targetSum) {
        // Push the current element in the subset
        subset.push(set[i]);

        // Recursive call for considering the current element
        printSubsetSum(i + 1, n, set, targetSum - set[i], subset);

        // Pop-back element after the recursive call to restore subset's original configuration
        subset.pop();
    }
}

// Driver code
// Test case 1
const set1 = [1, 2, 1];
const sum1 = 3;
const n1 = set1.length;
const subset1 = [];
console.log("Output 1:");
printSubsetSum(0, n1, set1, sum1, subset1);
console.log("");

// Reset the flag
flag = false;

// Test case 2
const set2 = [3, 34, 4, 12, 5, 2];
const sum2 = 30;
const n2 = set2.length;
const subset2 = [];
console.log("Output 2:");
printSubsetSum(0, n2, set2, sum2, subset2);

if (!flag) {
    console.log("There is no such subset");
}

Output 1:
[ 2 1 ][ 1 2 ]
Output 2:
There is no such subset

Complexity analysis:

Time Complexity: O(2ⁿ) The above solution may try all subsets of the given set in the worst case. Therefore time complexity of the above solution is exponential.
Auxiliary Space: O(n) where n is recursion stack space.

Analysis of Algorithms

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