Talk:Data Structures/Asymptotic Notation

Q. This subject is pretty well introduced, but why is it in the data structures section? Nowhere in the chapter are data structures even mentioned--I can see how a reader could get confused about how it relates to the book itself.

A. Big O is not only used to represent time upper bounds, but also space upper bounds.—Kinkydarkbird (talk) 09:43, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Q. Under - The Big O Notation, Theory Example, Paragraph two - is stated "It could then be said that f(n) runs in O(n^2) time". Shouldn't it be O(n)?


 * There are multiple upper bounds. O(n) could do but O(n^2) is used because that is what g is in this example.81.187.215.34 (discuss) 20:32, 2 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Actually, saying f(n) is faster than g(n) is nonsense. Functions don't have speeds, algorithms do. This page mixes up functions and algorithms throughout. Asymptotic notation is used to describe functions not algorithms. Functions can then describe properties of algorithms such as speed, space etc. 81.187.215.34 (discuss) 20:36, 2 July 2016 (UTC)