Sure, but for something to be considered exponential running time it must be <some-constant>^n. So 2^n would be exponential. However, n^2 is instead quadratic.

Sure, but for something to be considered exponential running time it must be <some-constant>^n. So 2^n would be exponential. However, n^2 is instead quadratic. Quadratic time complexity is better than exponential. Here is a useful comparison of the rate of growth for various time complexities[0] [0] https://stackoverflow.com/a/34517541/3574076 https://stackoverflow.com/a/34517541/3574076