Pronunciation of the big-O notation
How should I pronounce the following things? (These are complexities of algorithms.)
- O(n)
- O(n*log(n))
- O(n^2)
Pronunciation would be:
- order n
- order n log n
- order n squared
In the talks I've seen that involve algorithm complexity, I've heard it most often pronounced "oh of n", "oh of n log n", etc.
Mathematicians and CS theorists also use a lowercase o and a capital ϴ for similar measurements with slightly different implications. In this case O( n ) would be pronounced "big oh of n", o( n ) "little oh of n", and ϴ(n) "theta of n".