Computer Science / Unit 3 CS 0129 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"Big O Is a Stopwatch"
Captions available
The idea
Big O describes growth, not clock time — hardware a thousand times faster runs a linear algorithm sooner, and its cost still grows linearly; an exponential one still explodes.
In practice
A machine from decades ago and a phone today disagree on seconds and agree on shape.
Where people slip
Speed buys a constant; the shape stays.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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