Comparing Algorithms
This chapter will cover different types of complexity measures like Big O and their uses.
Introduction
There are several different algorithms to solve a given computational problem. It is natural, then, to compare these alternatives. But how do we know if algorithm A is better than algorithm B?
Important criteria: time and space
One important factor that determines the “goodness” of an algorithm is the amount of time it takes to solve a given problem. If algorithm A takes less time to solve the same problem than does algorithm B, then algorithm A is considered better.
Another important factor to compare two algorithms is the amount of memory required to solve a given problem. The algorithm that requires less memory is considered better.
Comparing execution time
For the remainder of this lesson, we will focus on the first factor, i.e., execution time. How do we ...