What does O(10) mean?

nahumfarchi 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Mathematically, it means that the number of lines read is bounded by 10*M, where M is some constant. So it's basically equivalent to saying that it's O(1).

I'm guessing that intention was to say "around 10 lines", though it kind of stretches the definition if we're being picky.

	▲	PaulHoule 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_O_notation

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hansvm 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I normally see that from engineers using "O(x)" as "approximately x" whenever it's clear from context that you're not actually talking about asymptomatic complexity.

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jcgrillo 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I've always thought it was like this, maybe I'm wrong:

O(some constant) -- "nearby" that constant (maybe "order of magnitude" or whatever is contextually convenient)

O(some parameter) -- denotes the asymptotic behavior of some parametrized process

O(some variable representing a small number) -- denotes the negligible part of something that you're deciding you don't have to care about--error terms with exponent larger than 2 for example

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wizzwizz4 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Those last two notations are, formally, the same. To call a part negligible, we say it's asymptotically bounded above by a constant multiple of this expression, which obviously goes away as we approach the limit. The first one is a colloquial alternative definition that would probably be considered "wrong" in formal writing.

	▲	jcgrillo 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Agreed

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unfunco 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think the O means order of magnitude. It looks like Big O notation, but O(10) would collapse to O(1) and OP is not talking about efficiency anyway.

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PaulHoule 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"about 10"