Complexity Analysis of an Algorithm: Ordering Algorithms by Efficiency

by Shariah Haque

Submitted : Spring 2020

It is important to find the most efficient algorithm for solving a problem, and while many algorithms - like binary and linear search - can work to solve the problem with not much of a difference, it is often more resourceful to choose the most efficient one for the job when it comes to real world scenarios. For a small number of elements, the difference between the number of operations performed by the two types of searches are negligible. But when dealing with a multitude of elements, a linear search would hypothetically take a billion operations in its worst case while binary could simply take just 32. This paper discusses the concept of time complexity, and by using equations like L'Hôpital's rule to calculate the efficiencies of algorithms, they can be ordered by the amount of time a program takes to run.

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