Big O and little o

O(n) means,

For at least one choice of a constant k > 0, you can find a constant a such that the inequality 0 <= f(x)<= k g(x) holds for all x > a.

o(n) means,

For every choice of a constant k > 0, you can find a constant a such that the inequality 0 <= f(x)< k g(x) holds for all x > a.

e.g.

The following are true for Big-O, but would not be true if you used little-o:

• x^2 ∈ O(x^2)
• x^2 ∈ O(x^2 + x)
• x^2 ∈ O(200 * x^2)

The following are true for little-o:

• x^2 ∈ o(x^3)
• x^2 ∈ o(x!)
• ln(x) ∈ o(x)