Simple Problem but tough for me if i want it in linear time

[Tim Chase]

On 08/18/10 21:47, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> Frankly, I think the OP doesn't really know what he wants, other than
> premature optimization. It's amazing how popular that is :)

You see, the trick to prematurely optimizing is to have a good 
algorithm for prematurely optimizing...the real question them 
becomes "How can I optimize my premature-optimization algorithms 
to O(1) instead of O(newsgroup)?"

:-)

-tkc


PS: I'm not positive, but O(newsgroup) may asymptotically 
approach O(log n) if the question is well formed, but O(2^n) if 
flaming, indentation/line-length preferences, the meaning of OOP, 
SQL-parameter escaping, McNugget combinations, or suggestions 
that Python is "just a scripting language" are involved...