Top "Big-o" questions

The Big-O notation is used to represent asymptotic upper bounds.

What is the difference between Θ(n) and O(n)?

Sometimes I see Θ(n) with the strange Θ symbol with something in the middle of it, and sometimes just O(n). …

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Big-O summary for Java Collections Framework implementations?

I may be teaching a "Java crash-course" soon. While it is probably safe to assume that the audience members will …

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What exactly does big Ө notation represent?

I'm really confused about the differences between big O, big Omega, and big Theta notation. I understand that big O …

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What does "O(1) access time" mean?

I have seen this term "O(1) access time" used to mean "quickly" but I don't understand what it means. The …

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Are there any worse sorting algorithms than Bogosort (a.k.a Monkey Sort)?

My co-workers took me back in time to my University days with a discussion of sorting algorithms this morning. We …

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What is the time complexity of indexing, inserting and removing from common data structures?

There is no summary available of the big O notation for operations on the most common data structures including arrays, …

data-structures complexity-theory big-o
What are the complexity guarantees of the standard containers?

Apparently ;-) the standard containers provide some form of guarantees. What type of guarantees and what exactly are the differences …

c++ stl containers big-o
Is a Java hashmap search really O(1)?

I've seen some interesting claims on SO re Java hashmaps and their O(1) lookup time. Can someone explain why this …

java hashmap big-o time-complexity
Time complexity of nested for-loop

I need to calculate the time complexity of the following code: for (i = 1; i <= n; i++) { for(j = 1; j &…

big-o complexity-theory time-complexity
What is the difference between lower bound and tight bound?

With the reference of this answer, what is Theta (tight bound)? Omega is lower bound, quite understood, the minimum time …

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