I don't actually have a cite for you, although it comes up in information theory. For example, guessing a password one letter at a time is (dramatically) easier

I don't actually have a cite for you, although it comes up in information theory. For example, guessing a password one letter at a time is (dramatically) easier than guessing the whole thing at once. I'd be curious to know what the term for it is. Edit: "factoring" is one word for it.