> > what the default python sorting algorithm is on a list, but AFAIK you'd be
> > looking at a constant O(log 10)
>
> I'm not a mathematician - what does this mean, in layperson's terms?
O(log10) is a way of expressing the efficiency of an algorithm.
Its execution time is proportional (in the Order of) log10.
That is the time to process 100 items will be about twice the time to
process 10 (rather than 100 times), since log(100) is 2 and log(10) is 1
These measures are indicative only, but the bottom line is that it will
scale to high volumes better than a linear algorithm would.
HTH,
Alan G.
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