polynomial-time algorithm

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

polynomial-time algorithm

   <complexity> A known {algorithm} (or {Turing Machine}) that is
   guaranteed to terminate within a number of steps which is a
   {polynomial} function of the size of the problem.

   See also {computational complexity}, {exponential time},
   {nondeterministic polynomial-time} (NP), {NP-complete}.

   (1995-04-13)