Timeline for Why is the formal definition of Big O notation formulated as such?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2017 at 7:31 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://programmers.stackexchange.com/ with https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/
|
|
| Oct 24, 2011 at 20:32 | vote | accept | user10326 | ||
| Oct 2, 2011 at 18:02 | comment | added | back2dos | @user10326: I don't understand. O-micro-n means "small O" and O-mega means "big O". They basically are both equivalent to O. For some reasons - probably to reduce ambiguity - people tend to use Greek letters as abbreviations for non-Greek terminology. It is the case for Ohm - Omega, sum, stress (mechanics) - Sigma, product - Pi, the order of - Omikron, empty word, emissivity, eccentricity - Epsilon, fugacity coefficient - Phi, and so on, but my 600 chars are almost over here. | |
| Oct 2, 2011 at 17:30 | comment | added | user10326 | @bac2dos:From the Ohm-example I got that the Omega is a convention.So it seems that in the asymptotic notation, somehow by coincidence the word Order matches the O of the notation? | |
| Oct 2, 2011 at 16:45 | comment | added | back2dos | @user10326: You are making two points: 1. what we now call "big O" is actually a capital Omicron. 2. Therefore it cannot mean "order of". The first is true, as the source I gave shows. The second is not, as the source I gave shows. As the Ohm-example didn't seem to impress you, I would point out, that mathematicians around the world use Sigma to represent a sum, and Pi for products, although both words come from Latin and not Greek. | |
| Oct 2, 2011 at 15:26 | comment | added | user10326 |
@bacj2dos:This is my point.If it is the Greek letter O then it can not mean Order of or Ordnung von.So I am not sure how this notation fits here
|
|
| Oct 2, 2011 at 14:40 | comment | added | back2dos | @user10326: It is indeed from the Greek letter Omicron (as I the answer I linked states), but also Omega and Theta, because in fact, there's 5 Landau symbols. So for one, O itself wouldn't have quite cut it. But also, we have a thing for Greek letters in Germany. The symbol for Ohm is in fact Omega. | |
| Oct 2, 2011 at 14:05 | comment | added | user10326 |
+1.Interesting, but I have a minor objection (I also reviewed your answer in the link).If the O stands for Order of or Ordnung von then why there is the understanding that it is the Greek letter Omicron? Am I wrong to think that everyone thinks that the asymptotic symbols are from Greek letters e.g. Theta?
|
|
| Oct 2, 2011 at 13:38 | history | answered | back2dos | CC BY-SA 3.0 |