The confusion is that the word-size of the operands plays a role.
For example, some people would say that an operation like a⨯b takes constant time or that its time complexity is O(1). However, other people (for example those implementing a bignum library) would say that the operation takes time depending on the word size of the operands. In the case of the multiplication operation, see for example [1] for a complexity analysis, to get an idea of what I mean.
For example, some people would say that an operation like a⨯b takes constant time or that its time complexity is O(1). However, other people (for example those implementing a bignum library) would say that the operation takes time depending on the word size of the operands. In the case of the multiplication operation, see for example [1] for a complexity analysis, to get an idea of what I mean.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6nhage%E2%80%93Strasse...