Question

What Big-O notation would this fall under? I know setSearch() and removeAt() are of order O(n) (assume they are either way). I know without the for loop it’d be O(n), for certain, but I get confused how to calculate what it becomes with a for loop thrown into it. I’m not all that great at math… so. Would it be O(n^2)?

public void removeAll(DataElement clearElement)
{
     if(length == 0)
         System.err.println("Cannot delete from an empty list.");
     else
     {
         for(int i = 0; i < list.length; i++)
         {      
            loc = seqSearch(clearElement);

            if(loc != -1)
            {      
               removeAt(loc);
                --i;
             }
         } 
     } 
} 

Answer 1

If removeAt() and seqSearch() are O(n) with respect to the length of the list then yes, this algorithm would be of order O(n^2). This is because within the for loop you call seqSearch every time, with a possibility of calling removeAt(loc). That means for each iteration you are doing either n or 2n operations. Taking the worst case, you have 2n^2 operations which is O(n^2).