No, they should not. Unless performance was one of the assignment requirements. Performance is rarely on the most important requirement in software development

No, they should not. Unless performance was one of the assignment requirements. Performance is rarely on the most important requirement in software development. If you don't believe me, watch Prof. Leiserson make this point. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-046j-introduction-to-algorithms-sma-5503-fall-2005/video-lectures/lecture-1-administrivia-introduction-analysis-of-algorithms-insertion-sort-mergesort/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...