this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2025
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The quadratic equation is the basis for most other math and physics. It’s used all the time.
The good thing about quicksort is that it’s a good demonstration of an O(n log n) algorithm, and that’s about it.
"The basis for most other math and physics" they do a complete fucksewage job at demonstrating that in school. I remember several years in math class "And here's the quadratic equation, the one that's all over 2a" and it was an exercise in plugging and chugging.
Math is a useful, powerful and allegedly beautiful thing. it's such a shame it's illegal to teach it competently.
If I’m not mistaken, quick sort is worst case O(n^2), merge sort is what actually achieves O(nlogn), the point is that quicksort is on average more memory (and time?) efficient
Maybe.
When using a random pivot, the worst case becomes exponentially more unlikely the larger the n. The O notation only cares about the complexity when n approaches infinity. So when n approaches infinity, the likelihood of O(n^2) performance approaches 0 (and the likelihood of O(n log n) approaches 1).
I think it’s fine to call it O(n log n).
That's when you add a w.h.p. (with high probability)