What might it mean (as precisely as possible!) for one algorithm to be "generally faster" than another? That is, two algorithms are both designed to solve the same problem (like searching through the phonebook for a name from start to finish vs. searching by flipping to the middle, looking for the name, and if it's not there focusing on the half that does contain the name and repeating the process). One might be faster than the other for some particular input to the algorithm but slower for a different input. What we're concerned about is a way to judge which one is faster in general time AlgA Alg B problem size