P vs NP is not an "in practical terms" question. It is a theoretical question with theoretical definitions of theoretical terms, including "efficient", which directly corresponds to the class P by definition.
Ok. When I say efficient, I mean "produces efficient code on near-term hardware". I understand that complexity theorists have a different definition of "efficient"-- they also have a different definition of "important" too.
The question being asked was "what would proving P=NP mean for us in practical terms". The fact that mathematicians call all polynomial-time algorithms efficient is irrelevant to this question.
markusde|2 years ago
tsimionescu|2 years ago
johnday|2 years ago
Where was that question asked?