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copied!<p>"Step" isn't a well-defined term in this context -- as <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17643272/running-time-does-print-count-as-a-step/17643472#comment25691621_17643272">pswaminathan points out</a>, usually what we care about isn't a precise numerical value but the mathematical behavior in a broader sense: as the problem size gets bigger (in this case, if you increase the size of the input <code>L</code>) does the execution time stay the same? Grow linearly? Quadratically? Exponentially?</p> <p>Explicitly counting steps can be a part of that analysis -- it can be a good way to get an intuitive handle on an algorithm. But we don't have a consistent way of determining what counts as a "step" and what doesn't. You could be looking at lines of code -- but in Python, for example, a list comprehension can express a long, complicated loop in a single line. Or you could be counting CPU instructions, but in a higher-level language full of abstractions that's hopelessly difficult. So you pick a heuristic -- in straightforward code like your example, "every execution of a single line of code is a step" is a decent rule. And in that case, you'd certainly count the print statements. If you wanted to get in a little deeper, you could look at the bytecode as <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17643272/running-time-does-print-count-as-a-step/17643472#comment25691768_17643272">tobias_k suggests</a>, to get a sense for what the instructions look like behind Python's syntax.</p> <p>But there's no single agreed-upon rule. You mention it's for homework; in that case, only your instructor knows what definition they want you to use. That said, the simple answer to your question is most likely "yes, the print statements count."</p>

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