# 8.13. Estimating With Big-O¶

We can use Big-O categories to do estimation of how long a problem will take to solve based on a smaller version of the problem. We simply need to set up a proportion like the one below and solve it:

$$\frac{\textrm{work for job 1}}{\textrm{work for job 2}} = \frac{\textrm{time for job 1}}{\textrm{time for job 2}}$$

The key is to remember that the work does not necessarily equal the size of the problem. Instead, we have to use the size of the problem and the Big-O of the algorithm we are applying to calculate the approximate amount of work.

For example, say we have a list of 1000 things…

• If we want to do a Binary Search, the Big-O is $$O(log_2(n))$$. That means the estimated work would be $$log_2(1000)$$ or ~9.9657 units of work.
• If we want to do a Linear Search, the Big-O is $$O(n)$$. That means the estimated work would just be 1,000 units of work.
• If we want to do a Selection Sort, the Big-O is $$O(n^2)$$. That means the estimated work would be $${1000}^2$$ or 1,000,000 units of work.

#### Sample Problem 1

I have timed selection sort on 10,000 items and it take 0.243 seconds. I want to estimate the time it will take to sort 50,000 items. Because selection sort is an $$O(n^2)$$ algorithm, I know I need to square the problem sizes to estimate the amount of work required for each of the two jobs. So I can set up the proportion like this:

$$\frac{{10000}^2}{{50000}^2} = \frac{0.243\textrm{ seconds}}{\textrm{time for job 2}}$$

So…

$$\frac{100000000}{2500000000} = \frac{0.243\textrm{ seconds}}{\textrm{time for job 2}}$$

Cross multiplying gives:

$$100000000(\textrm{time for job 2}) = 0.243\textrm{ seconds} \cdot {2500000000}$$

Solving for time for job 2 gives:

$$\textrm{time for job 2} = 6.075\textrm{ seconds}$$

#### Sample Problem 2

I have timed linear search on 10,000,000 items and it take 8.12 seconds (call this job 1). I want to estimate the time it will take to use binary search instead (job 2). The problem sizes are the same for both jobs: 10,000,000 items. However, the algorithms will require different amounts of work. Linear search is a $$O(n)$$ algorithm, so the work for job 1 will be 10,000,000. For job 2, we are using a $$O(log_2(n))$$ algorithm so the work will be $$log_2(10000000)$$

$$\frac{10000000}{log_2(10000000)} = \frac{8.12\textrm{ seconds}}{\textrm{time for job 2}}$$

So…

$$\frac{10000000}{23.25} = \frac{8.12\textrm{ seconds}}{\textrm{time for job 2}}$$

Cross multiplying gives:

$$10000000(\textrm{time for job 2}) = 8.12\textrm{ seconds} \cdot 23.25$$

Solving for time for job 2 gives:

$$\textrm{time for job 2} = 0.000019\textrm{ seconds}$$