big O notation
Sign in to saveAlso known as Landau notation, Bachmann–Landau notation, asymptotic notation, Landau symbol, order comparable with or inferior to, O(), order of, big-O notation
form of Landau notation representing asymptotically equivalent or slower growth
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Big O notation is a mathematical notation that describes the approximate size of a function on a domain. Big O is a member of a family of notations invented by the German mathematicians Paul Bachmann and Edmund Landau and expanded by others, collectively called Bachmann–Landau notation. The letter O stands for Ordnung, that is, the order of approximation.
In computer science, big O notation is used to classify algorithms by how their run time or space requirements grow with the input. In analytic number theory, big O notation expresses bounds on the growth of an arithmetical function, as for the remainder term in the prime number theorem. In mathematical analysis, including calculus, Big O notation bounds the error when truncating a power series and expresses the quality of approximation of a real or complex valued function by a simpler function.