Arizona State University (ASU) CSE240 Introduction to Programming Languages Midterm Practice Exam

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What is big-O notation used for?

To define variable names in programming.

To classify algorithms based on their performance.

Big-O notation is a mathematical concept used to classify algorithms according to how their runtime or space requirements grow as the input size increases. It provides a high-level understanding of the algorithm's efficiency, specifically in the worst-case scenario. By using big-O notation, programmers and computer scientists can express the upper bounds of an algorithm's performance, which allows for comparing different algorithms more easily, regardless of hardware or other external factors.

For instance, an algorithm with a time complexity of O(n^2) will generally run slower than one with O(n log n) as the size of the input (n) grows larger. This classification assists in evaluating and selecting algorithms suitable for a particular problem based on their efficiency, leading to better performance in software development and computational tasks.

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To illustrate the flow of a program visually.

To specify programming language syntax rules.

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