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Running Time

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure
  • for solving a problem
  • in a finite amount of time
Most algorithms map input to output
  • running time typically grows with input size
  • average time often difficult to determine
  • Focus on worst case running time
    • easier to analyse
    • crucial to many applications: finance, robotics, games, …

[Diagram:Pic/runningTime.png]