YEAR 2 CO2 WEEK 5 ALGORITHM EFICIENCY

Question 1

How do you have to consider when deciding which algorithm is most suitable?

Answer 1

Space Efficiency.
Time Efficiency.
Big O Notation.

Question 2

Explain what is meant by Space Efficiency?

Answer 2

A measure of how much memory (space) an algorithm takes as input (N) scales up.
Space taken up by code as N increases.
Taken up by data as N increases.

Question 3

What is meant by Time Efficiency?

Answer 3

Measure of how much time it takes to complete an algorithm as input (N) increases.

Question 4

How do programmers choose between time efficiency and space Efficiency?

Answer 4

They don’t! They have to decided in the situation.
If algorithm is time-critical then a fast algorithm is needed but there must be enough memory to handle it.
If there is a hardware limit to memory then a slower one needs to be used.

Question 5

What is Big O?

Answer 5

It is used extensively to describe quality of algorithms.
There is a relationship between input N of algorithm and time or space takes to complete.