A nested loop puzzle - GeeksforGeeks

13 Jan, 2022
Which of the following two code segments is faster? Assume that compiler makes no optimizations.  
C++
C
Python3
/* FIRST */for(i = 0; i < 10; i++)  for(j = 0; j < 100; j++)    //do something // This code is contributed by Shubham Singh
/* FIRST */for(i=0;i<10;i++)  for(j=0;j<100;j++)    //do something
# FIRSTfor i in range(10):    for j in range(100):        #do something # This code is contributed by shivani
C++
C
Python3
/* SECOND */for(i=0;i<100;i++)  for(j=0;j<10;j++)    //do something //This code is contributed by Shubham Singh
/* SECOND */for(i=0;i<100;i++)  for(j=0;j<10;j++)    //do something
# SECONDfor i in range(100):    for j in range(10):             # Do something # This code is contributed by shivani
Both code segments provide same functionality, and the code inside the two for loops would be executed same number of times in both code segments. If we take a closer look then we can see that the SECOND does more operations than the FIRST. It executes all three parts (assignment, comparison and increment) of the for loop more times than the corresponding parts of FIRST: 
The SECOND executes assignment operations ( j = 0 or i = 0) 101 times while FIRST executes only 11 times.The SECOND does 101 + 1100 comparisons (i < 100 or j < 10) while the FIRST does 11 + 1010 comparisons (i < 10 or j < 100).The SECOND executes 1100 increment operations (i++ or j++) while the FIRST executes 1010 increment operation.
The SECOND executes assignment operations ( j = 0 or i = 0) 101 times while FIRST executes only 11 times.
The SECOND does 101 + 1100 comparisons (i < 100 or j < 10) while the FIRST does 11 + 1010 comparisons (i < 10 or j < 100).
The SECOND executes 1100 increment operations (i++ or j++) while the FIRST executes 1010 increment operation.
Below code counts the number of increment operations executed in FIRST and SECOND, and prints the counts.
C++
Java
Python3
C#
Javascript
// C++ program to count number of increment// operations in FIRST and SECOND#include<iostream> using namespace std; int main(){  int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;      /* FIRST */  for(int i=0;i<10;i++,c1++)    for(int j=0;j<100;j++, c1++);            /* SECOND */  for(int i=0; i<100; i++, c2++)      for(int j=0; j<10; j++, c2++);            cout << " Count in FIRST = " <<c1 << endl;  cout << " Count in SECOND  = " <<c2 << endl;   getchar();  return 0;}
// Java program to count number of increment// operations in FIRST and SECOND import java.io.*; class GFG {    public static void main (String[] args) {       int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;         for(int i=0; i<10;i++, c1++){          for(int j=0;j<100;j++, c1++){}        }                      for(int i=0;i<100;i++, c2++){              for(int j=0;j<10;j++, c2++){}        }                         System.out.println( "Count in First = "+c1);               System.out.println( "Count in SECOND = "+c2);    }}
# Python program to count number of increment# operations in FIRST and SECONDc1 = 0c2 = 0 # FIRSTfor i in range (10):    for j in range (100):        c1 += 1    c1 += 1 # SECONDfor i in range (100):    for j in range (10):        c2 += 1    c2 += 1   print("Count in FIRST = " ,c1)print("Count in SECOND  = " ,c2) # This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110
// C# program to count number of increment// operations in FIRST and SECONDusing System; class GFG{     public static void Main (String[] args){   int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;     for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++, c1++)    {        for(int j = 0; j < 100;j++, c1++){}    }         for(int i = 0; i < 100; i++, c2++)    {        for(int j = 0; j < 10; j++, c2++){}    }                 Console.WriteLine("Count in First = " + c1);           Console.WriteLine("Count in SECOND = " + c2);}} // This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110
<script> // JavaScript program to count number of increment// operations in FIRST and SECOND       let c1 = 0, c2 = 0;         for(let i=0; i<10;i++, c1++){          for(let j=0;j<100;j++, c1++){}        }                      for(let i=0;i<100;i++, c2++){              for(let j=0;j<10;j++, c2++){}        }                         document.write( "Count in First = "+c1 +"<br>");               document.write( "Count in SECOND = "+c2);  // this code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110  </script>
 Count in FIRST = 1010
 Count in SECOND  = 1100
Below code counts the number of comparison operations executed by FIRST and SECOND
C++
Java
Python3
C#
Javascript
//program to count the number of comparison//operations executed by FIRST and SECOND */#include<iostream> using namespace std; int main(){   int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;        /* FIRST */   for(int i=0; ++c1&&i<10; i++)      for(int j=0; ++c1&&j<100;j++);          /* SECOND */   for(int i=0; ++c2&&i<100; i++)      for(int j=0; ++c2&&j<10; j++);           cout << " Count for FIRST  " <<c1 << endl;   cout << " Count for SECOND  " <<c2 << endl;   getchar();   return 0;}
/*package whatever //do not write package name here */ import java.io.*; class GFG {    public static void main (String[] args) {         int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;         for(int i=0; i<++c1 && i<10;i++) {              for(int j=0;j<++c1 &&j<100;j++) {                               }        }         for(int i=0;i<++c2 && i<100;i++) {              for(int j=0;j<++c2 &&j<10;j++) {                      }        }               System.out.println( "Count in FIRST = "+c1);               System.out.println( "Count in SECOND  = "+c2);        }}
#program to count the number of comparison#operations executed by FIRST and SECOND */ # FIRSTc1 = 1c2 = 1i = 0while (i < c1 and i < 10):    j = -1    c1 += 1    while (j < c1 and j < 100):        c1 += 1        j += 1    i += 1 # SECONDi = 0while (i < c2 and i < 100):    j = -1    c2 += 1    while (j < c2 and j < 10):        c2 += 1        j += 1    i += 1       print(" Count fot FIRST  " , c1)print(" Count fot SECOND  " , c2) # This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110   
/*package whatever //do not write package name here */ using System; class GFG {    public static void Main (String[] args) {         int c1 = 0, c2 = 0;         for(int i = 0; i < ++c1 && i < 10; i++)        {              for(int j = 0; j < ++c1 && j < 100; j++)              {                               }        }         for(int i = 0; i < ++c2 && i < 100; i++) {              for(int j = 0; j < ++c2 && j < 10; j++) {                      }        }               Console.WriteLine( "Count in FIRST = "+c1);               Console.WriteLine( "Count in SECOND  = "+c2);        }} // This code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110
<script> /*package whatever //do not write package name here *///program to count the number of comparison//operations executed by FIRST and SECOND */          let c1 = 0, c2 = 0;         for(let i=0; i<++c1 && i<10;i++) {              for(let j=0;j<++c1 &&j<100;j++) {                               }        }         for(let i=0;i<++c2 && i<100;i++) {              for(let j=0;j<++c2 &&j<10;j++) {                      }        }               document.write( "Count in FIRST = "+c1 +"<br>");               document.write( "Count in SECOND  = "+c2);    // this code is contributed by shivanisinghss2110   </script>
 Count for FIRST  1021
 Count for SECOND  1201
Thanks to Dheeraj for suggesting the solution.Please write comments if you find any of the answers/codes incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topics discussed above. 
nidhi_biet
shubhamsharma8337
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shivanisinghss2110
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