Talk:Hash table

may I ask what is O(1)? Robert Tito | Talk 14:39, 21 February 2007 (CST)

The O(n)-notation gives a hint on the complexity of a task, i.e. on the computational time needed to perform the task. n is the number of elements in consideration. This means if a task is in O(n) class, the time to perform the task increases linearly with the number of elements. O(1) (what you asked for) means that the time does not increase with the number of elements. O(n^2) would mean that time grows quadratically with the number of elements. Typical classe are O(1), O(log n), O(n), O(n log n), O(n2) and O(2^n). -- Alexander Wiebel 15:08, 21 February 2007 (CST)

By the way, this belongs to the field of theoretical computer science. Hope that helps. -- Alexander Wiebel 15:10, 21 February 2007 (CST)

I was hoping to come in later and write the article 'Big O Notation,' which would have cleared this up. As a general style rule, should I explain that in the article text instead of just linking to Big O Notation? --Nick Johnson 15:57, 21 February 2007 (CST)