Introduction to Algorithm An algorithm is finite set of steps defining the

solution of a particular problem. It can be expressed in English like

language, called pseudocode, in programming language or in the form of
flowchart. www.eshikshak.co.in
3. Characteristics Input There are zero or more values which are externally
supplied. Output At least one value is produced Definiteness Each step
must be clear and unambiguous Finiteness If we trace the steps of an
algorithm, then for all cases, the algorithm must terminate after a finite
number of steps Effectiveness Each step must be sufficiently basic that it
can in principal be carried out by a person using only paper and pencil
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4. Algorithm Complexity There are basically two aspects of computer
programming. Data Organization (i.e Data & structure) Algorithm The
choice of a particular algorithm depends on the following consideration :
Time Complexity (Performance Requirements) Space Complexity (Memory
Requirements) www.eshikshak.co.in
5. Space Complexity It means the amount of memory, algorithm or program
needs to run to completion. Some of the reasons for studying space
complexity are If a multi user system Sufficient memory is available to
run the program www.eshikshak.co.in
6. Space Complexity (Cont.) The space needed by a program consists of the
following components. Instruction Space : Space needed to store the
executable version of the program Data Space : Space needed to store all
constants, variable values and has further following components
Constants, variables, structured variables like array and structure
Dynamically allocated space www.eshikshak.co.in
7. Space Complexity (Cont.) Environmental Stack Space : Space needed to
store the information needed to resume the suspended functions. Return
Address Values of all local variables and the values of formal parameters in
the function being involved. www.eshikshak.co.in
8. Time Complexity It means the amount of time it needs to run to
completion Reasons for studying time complexity Interested to know in
advance that whether a program will provide a satisfactory real time
response There may be several possible solutions with different time
requirements www.eshikshak.co.in
9. Expressing Space and TimeComplexity The space and/or time complexity
is usually expressed in form of the function f(n) Where n is the input size
for a given instance of the problem being solved. Expressing space and/ or
time complexity as a function has following reasons We may be interested

to predict the rate of growth of complexity as the size of problem increases.

To Compare the complexities of two or more algorithm Since in modern
computers, the memory is not a sence constraint, therefore, our analysis of
www.eshikshak.co.in algorithms will be on the basis of time complexity.
10. Big O Notation Big O is a characterization scheme that allows to
measure properties of algorithms such time and space complexity. It is
useful to set the prerequisites of algorithms and to develop and design
efficient algorithms in terms of time and space complexity.
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11. Categories of Algorithm Based on Big O notation, the algorithm can be
categorized as follows Constant time O(1) Logarithmic time O(log n)
Linear time O(n) Polynomial time O(nk) (for k > 1) Exponentail time
O(kn) for k > 1 www.eshikshak.co.in
12. Algorithm Analysis Different ways or algorithms to solve a problem.
Hence, some of the algorithm may be more efficient than the others There
are different types of time complexities which can be analyzed for an
algorithm Best Case Time Analysis Average Case Time Analysis Worst
Case Time Analysis www.eshikshak.co.in
13. Best Case Time Complexity It is a measure of the minimum time that
the algorithm will require for an input of size n. The running time of many
algorithms varies not only for the inputs of different sizes but also for the
different inputs of same size Example : Sorting or Searching
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14. Worst Case Time Complexity The worst case time complexity of an
algorithm is a measure of the maximum time that the algorithm will require
for an input of size n. Example : If n input data items are supplied in
reverse order for any sorting algorithm, the algorithm will require n2
operations to perform the sort. www.eshikshak.co.in
15. Average Case Time Complexity The time that an algorithm will require
to execute a typical input data of size n is known as average case time
complexity. www.eshikshak.co.in