I was trying to find the time complexity of this nested loop
for (i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
for (j = 1; j <= n; j++) {
n--;
x++;
}
}
If there wasn't a n-- it would be n*n , O(n2) right?
But what if n reduces every time second loop runs?
What's the time complexity and big O of this nested loop?
If I consider n = 5, x equals 4, the second loop runs 4 time
The time complexity of the code is O(n). n is reduced by half for every iteration of the outer loop.
So we have n/2 + n/4 + n/8 + n/16 + ... + n/2^k = O(n)
where k is the number of iterations of the outer loop (basically i).
Note that the time complexity is independent of x.
If there wasn't a n-- it would be n*n , O(n2) right?
Yes
Another way to see it's O(n): You only enter the inner loop body if j <= n, and since j is positive, n must also be positive. But you decrease n every time, which you can only do O(n) times (where n is the starting value) and still have n positive.
Related
What is the big-O for the following code :
y=1;
x=3;
for(int i =1 ; i < =n ; i*=2)
for(int j =1; j<= i * i; j++)
if (i % j == 0)
for(int k = 1; k<=j; k++)
y=y*x;
My Thoughts :
Looking at another similar questions I think the inner most loop is O(n) and the first loop is O(log (n))..as for the middle its O(n^2)
so the overall result would be O(log(n)*n^3)
Is my answer and way of thinking right ? I'm new to this so i hope i can get some help explaning how this loops work.
the most inner loop will run j time if i % j == 0. As the middle loop will run i^2 times, only when j < i it will be possible to satisfy the specified condition. Hence, among i^2 iteration of the middle loop, at least i^2 - i times, the condition will not be satisfied.
Suppose we denote the number of divisors of i with tau(i), among j < i only tau(i) times the condition will satisfy that means the total complexity of the most inner loop is equal to the sum of divisions of i which is at most 77/16 i (see this post for the proof).
Hence, the total complexity of the middle loop with the inner loop is at most (i^2 - i) + (i - tau(i)) + 77/16 i = i^2 + 77/16 i - tau(i).
We also know that the tau(i) is in O(i^(1/loglog(i))) (see the proof here). Now, to find the complexity of the whole loop, we need to sum the last expression for i = 1, 2, 4, ..., n. As we desire to find the asymptotic complexity and we have a sum here, we can ignore the lower powers of i. Therefore, the time complexity of the whole loop is 1 + 2^2 + (2^2)^2 + ... + (2^2)^log(n) = ((2^2)^(log(n)+1)-1)/(2^2-1) = Theta(n^2) (a geometric sum with factor of 2^2 and log(n) items).
In sum, the higher time complexity analysis for the specified code is Theta(n^2) which is also in O(n^2) as well.
This is the loop structure :
for (int i = 1 ; i < n ; i++) {
for (int j = 0 ; j < n ; j += i) {
// do stuff
}
}
My guess was O(nlogn) as it clearly cannot be O(n^2) since the increment in j is increasing and it clearly cannot be O(n sqrt(n)) since the increment is not that high. But I have no idea how to prove it formally.
Each time complexity of the inner loop is based on the value of i is n/i. Hence, total time would be n + n/2 + n/3 + ... + n/n = n(1+1/2+1/3+...+1/n).
As we know 1+1/2+1/3+...+1/n is a harmonic sereis and asymptotically is log(n). Hence, the algorithm is run in O(nlog(n)).
for(i=0; i<n; i++) // time complexity n+1
{
k=1; // time complexity n
while(k<=n) // time complexity n*(n+1)
{
for(j=0; j<k; j++) // time complexity ??
printf("the sum of %d and %d is: %d\n",j,k,j+k); time complexity ??
k++;
}
What is the time complexity of the above code? I stuck in the second (for) and i don't know how to find the time complexity because j is less than k and not less than n.
I always having problems related to time complexity, do you guys got some good article on it?
especially about the step count and loops.
From the question :
because j is less than k and not less than n.
This is just plain wrong, and I guess that's the assumption that got you stuck. We know what values k can take. In your code, it ranges from 1 to n (included). Thus, if j is less than k, it is also less than n.
From the comments :
i know the the only input is n but in the second for depends on k an not in n .
If a variable depends on anything, it's on the input. j depends on k that itself depends on n, which means j depends on n.
However, this is not enough to deduce the complexity. In the end, what you need to know is how many times printf is called.
The outer for loop is executed n times no matter what. We can factor this out.
The number of executions of the inner for loop depends on k, which is modified within the while loop. We know k takes every value from 1 to n exactly once. That means the inner for loop will first be executed once, then twice, then three times and so on, up until n times.
Thus, discarding the outer for loop, printf is called 1+2+3+...+n times. That sum is very well known and easy to calculate : 1+2+3+...+n = n*(n+1)/2 = (n^2 + n)/2.
Finally, the total number of calls to printf is n * (n^2 + n)/2 = n^3/2 + n^2/2 = O(n^3). That's your time complexity.
A final note about this kind of codes. Once you see the same patterns a few times, you quickly start to recognize the kind of complexity involved. Then, when you see that kind of nested loops with dependent variables, you immediately know that the complexity for each loop is linear.
For instance, in the following, f is called n*(n+1)*(n+2)/6 = O(n^3) times.
for (i = 1; i <= n; ++i) {
for (j = 1; j <= i; ++j) {
for (k = 1; k <= j; ++k) {
f();
}
}
}
First, simplify the code to show the main loops. So, we have a structure of:
for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
for(int k = 1; k <= n; k++) {
for(int j = 0; j < k; j++) {
}
}
}
The outer-loops run n * n times but there's not much you can do with this information because the complexity of the inner-loop changes based on which iteration of the outer-loop you're on, so it's not as simple as calculating the number of times the outer loops run and multiplying by some other value.
Instead, I would find it easier to start with the inner-loop, and then add the outer-loops from the inner-most to outer-most.
The complexity of the inner-most loop is k.
With the middle loop, it's the sum of k (the complexity above) where k = 1 to n. So 1 + 2 + ... + n = (n^2 + n) / 2.
With the outer loop, it's done n times so another multiplication by n. So n * (n^2 + n) / 2.
After simplifying, we get a total of O(n^3)
The time complexity for the above code is : n x n x n = n^3 + 1+ 1 = n^3 + 2 for the 3 loops plus the two constants. Since n^3 carries the heaviest growing rate the constant values can be ignored, so the Time complexity would be n^3.
Note: Take each loop as (n) and to obtained the total time, multiple the (n) values in each loop.
Hope this will help !
I'm given this algorithm and I'm told to find the complexity of it big theta.
for (i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
j = n;
while( j >= 1) {
j = j/3;
}
}
I know outer for loop runs n times. The while loop is more tricky though, Is it possibly log n (of base 3). In total making it n*log3n
Is this correct?
There is an outer for loop of size n. It contributes a complexity of a factor of n to the over all complexity.
Let's say inner while loop runs for m times. After i'th iteration, the value of j will be n/(3^i). We will run this till n/(3^i) > 1. Therefore,
=> n/(3^i) = m
=> n = 3^m
=> log(n) = log2(3) * m
=> m = O(log(n))
So, for loop contributes to O(n) and while loop contributes to O(log(n)). Complexity of nested loop becomes O(n log(n)).
I have this code :
int fun(int n)
{
int count = 0;
for (int i = n; i > 0; i /= 2)
for (int j = 0; j < i; j++)
count += 1;
return count;
}
The time complexity of this code can be thought of as O(n) because O(n+n/2+n/4+...) = O(n)
By that logic, the time complexity of this snippet can also be argued to be O(n) :
for(i = 1; i < n; i *= 2)
//O(1) statements
Since O(1+2+4+..+n/4+n/2) = O(n). But since the loop runs log(n) times, it can be log(n) too.
Why is the former one not : log(n) times the outer loop * log(n) times the inner loop so, log(n)log(n)
What am I doing wrong ?
The first snippet has the outer loop that executes O(log n) times, and each iteration the inner loop executes O(i) times. If you sum any number of terms of the form n / 2^k, you'll get O(n).
The second piece of code has O(log n) iterations of O(1) operations, and sum of logarithmic amount of constants is still logarithmic.
In the first example, you don't have an O(1) statement inside your loop, as you have for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) count += 1. If in your second example you put the same inner loop of the first example, you are back to the same complexity. The first loop is not O(n*log(n)); this is easy to demonstrate because you can find an upper bound in O(2n) which is equivalent to O(n).
The time complexity of the 2nd one should not be calculated as a series O(1+2+4+..+n/4+n/2) = O(n), because it is not that series.
Notice the first one. It is being calculated as a series because one counts the number of times the inner for loop executes and then add all of them (series) to get the final time complexity.
When i=n inner for loop executes n times
When i=(n/2) inner for loop executes n/2 times
When i=(n/4) inner for loop executes n/4 times
and so on..
But in the second one, there is no series to add. It just comes to a formula (2^x) = n, which evaluates to x = logn.
(2^x) = n this formula can be obtained by noticing that i starts with 1, and when it becomes 2 it is multiplied by 2 until it reaches n.
So one needs to find out how many times 2 needs to be multiplied by 2 to reach n.
Thus the formula (2^x) = n, and then solve for x.