Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Being efficient means achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or resources. In computer science, it refers to writing code that performs tasks quickly and uses minimal memory.
A step-by-step procedure or set of rules for solving a specific problem. It is essential for creating efficient code.
Time Complexity: The measure of how long an algorithm takes to run as the input size increases. Understanding time complexity helps optimize efficiency.
Space Complexity: The measure of how much memory an algorithm requires as the input size increases. Optimizing space complexity improves efficiency by reducing memory usage.