I do believe the GP's message was that the tutor told him his solution took one "step", which is not equivalent to O(1), because sorted() takes O(nlgn). In oth

I do believe the GP's message was that the tutor told him his solution took one "step", which is not equivalent to O(1), because sorted() takes O(nlgn). In other words, he was pointing out the limitations of the tutor program's analysis.