Topic summary
Intractable problem
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Computational complexity theory.
Intractability
A problem that can theoretically be solved, but requires impractically large, near-infinite, amount of resources (e.g., time) to do so, is known as an intractable problem. Conversely, a problem that can be solved in practice is called a tractable problem, literally "a problem that can be handled". The term infeasible (literally "cannot be done") is sometimes used interchangeably with intractable, though this risks confusion with a feasible solution in mathematical optimization.