(definition)
Definition: The theoretical speed of a given set of operations. It is O(f(n)) when the execution time of the worst case of all sequences of n operations never exceeds O(n*f(n)).
See also potential function, best-case cost, average-case cost, worst-case cost.
Note: The term "amortized worst case" is sometimes used to emphasize that the worst case of a set of operations is averaged.
Author: CLK
R. E. Tarjan, Amortized computational complexity, SIAM Journal on Algebraic and Discrete Methods, 6(2):306-318, 1985.
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul E. Black.
Entry modified Fri Dec 17 12:02:08 2004.
HTML page formatted Wed Oct 26 09:47:10 2005.
Cite this as:
Chris L. Kuszmaul, "amortized cost", from
Dictionary of Algorithms and Data
Structures, Paul E. Black, ed.,
NIST.
http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/amortizdcost.html
