Department of Computer and Information Science,

School of Science, IUPUI

CSCI 240

Analysis of Algorithms
Big-Oh

Dale Roberts, Lecturer

Computer Science, IUPUI
E-mail: droberts@cs.iupui.edu

Dale Roberts
 Asymptotic Analysis

Ignoring constants in T(n)

Analyzing T(n) as n "gets large"
Example:
T (n)  13n  42n  2n log n  4n
3 2

As n grows larger, n3 is MUCH larger than n2 , n log n, and n,

so it dominates T (n)

The running time grows "roughly on the order of n3"

Notationally, T(n) = O(n3 ) The big-oh (O) Notation

Dale Roberts
 3 major notations
Ο(g(n)), Big-Oh of g of n, the Asymptotic Upper
Bound.
(g(n)), Big-Omega of g of n, the Asymptotic Lo
wer Bound.
(g(n)), Big-Theta of g of n, the Asymptotic Tight
Bound.

Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh Defined
 The O symbol was introduced in 1927 to indicate relative growth of
two functions based on asymptotic behavior of the functions now us
ed to classify functions and families of functions

T(n) = O(f(n)) if there are constants c and n0 such that T(n) <
c*f(n) when n  n0

c*f(n)
c*f(n) is an upper bound for T(n)
T(n)

n0 n
Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh

Describes an upper bound for the running

time of an algorithm

Upper bounds for Insertion Sort running times:

•worst case: O(n2) T(n) = c1*n2 + c2*n + c3
•best case: O(n) T(n) = c1*n + c2

Time Complexity

Dale Roberts
 Big-O Notation
We say Insertion Sort’s run time is O(n2)
Properly we should say run time is in O(n2)
Read O as “Big-Oh” (you’ll also hear it as “order”)
In general a function
f(n) is O(g(n)) if there exist positive constants c and n0
such that f(n)  c  g(n) for all n  n0
e.g. if f(n)=1000n and g(n)=n2, n0 = 1000 and c =
1 then f(n) < 1*g(n) where n > n0 and we say that
f(n) = O(g(n))
The O notation indicates 'bounded above by a c
onstant multiple of.'

Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh Properties
Fastest growing function dominates a sum
O(f(n)+g(n)) is O(max{f(n), g(n)})
Product of upper bounds is upper bound for the product
If f is O(g) and h is O(r) then fh is O(gr)
f is O(g) is transitive
If f is O(g) and g is O(h) then f is O(h)
Hierarchy of functions
O(1), O(logn), O(n1/2), O(nlogn), O(n2), O(2n), O(n!)

Dale Roberts
 Some Big-Oh’s are not reasonable
Polynomial Time algorithms
An algorithm is said to be polynomial if it is
O( nc ), c >1
Polynomial algorithms are said to be reasonable
They solve problems in reasonable times!
Coefficients, constants or low-order terms are ignored
e.g. if f(n) = 2n2 then f(n) = O(n2)

Exponential Time algorithms

An algorithm is said to be exponential if it is
O( rn ), r > 1
Exponential algorithms are said to be unreasonable

Dale Roberts
 Can we justify Big O notation?
Big O notation is a huge simplification; can we
justify it?
It only makes sense for large problem sizes
For sufficiently large problem sizes, the
highest-order term swamps all the rest!
Consider R = x2 + 3x + 5 as x varies:
x = 0 x2 = 0 3x = 10 5 = 5 R = 5
x = 10 x2 = 100 3x = 30 5 = 5 R = 135
x = 100 x2 = 10000 3x = 300 5 = 5 R = 10,305
x = 1000 x2 = 1000000 3x = 3000 5 = 5 R = 1,003,005
x = 10,000 R = 100,030,005
x = 100,000 R = 10,000,300,005

Dale Roberts
Classifying Algorithms based on Big-Oh
A function f(n) is said to be of at most logarithmic growth if f(n) = O(
log n)
A function f(n) is said to be of at most quadratic growth if f(n) = O(n2
)
A function f(n) is said to be of at most polynomial growth if f(n) = O(
nk), for some natural number k > 1
A function f(n) is said to be of at most exponential growth if there is
a constant c, such that f(n) = O(cn), and c > 1
A function f(n) is said to be of at most factorial growth if f(n) = O(n!).
A function f(n) is said to have constant running time if the size of th
e input n has no effect on the running time of the algorithm (e.g., as
signment of a value to a variable). The equation for this algorithm is
f(n) = c
Other logarithmic classifications: f(n) = O(n log n)
f(n) = O(log log n)

Dale Roberts
 Rules for Calculating Big-Oh
Base of Logs ignored
logan = O(logbn)
Power inside logs ignored
log(n2) = O(log n)
Base and powers in exponents not ignored
3n is not O(2n)
2
a(n ) is not O(an)
If T(x) is a polynomial of degree n, then T(x) =
O(xn)

Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh Examples
1. 2n3 + 3n2 + n = 2n3 + 3n2 + O(n)
= 2n3 + O( n2 + n)
= 2n3 + O( n2 )
= O(n3 ) = O(n4)
2. 2n3 + 3n2 + n = 2n3 + 3n2 + O(n)
= 2n3 + O(n2 + n)
= 2n3 + O(n2) = O(n3)

Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh Examples (cont.)
3. Suppose a program P is O(n3), and a program Q
is O(3n), and that currently both can solve proble
ms of size 50 in 1 hour. If the programs are run o
n another system that executes exactly 729 time
s as fast as the original system, what size proble
ms will they be able to solve?

Dale Roberts
 Big-Oh Examples (cont)
n3 = 503  729 3n = 350  729
n = 3 503 * 3 729 n = log3 (729  350)
n = log3(729) + log3 350
n = 50  9 n = 6 + log3 350
n = 50  9 = 450 n = 6 + 50 = 56

Improvement: problem size increased by 9 times for n3

algorithm but only a slight improvement in problem si
ze (+6) for exponential algorithm.

Dale Roberts
 Acknowledgements
Philadephia University, Jordan
Nilagupta, Pradondet

Dale Roberts