NP-completeness refers to a class of problems in computational complexity theory that are both in NP (nondeterministic polynomial time) and as hard as the hardest problems in NP. This means that if a polynomial-time algorithm can be found for any NP-complete problem, then all problems in NP can be solved in polynomial time. Understanding NP-completeness is crucial because it helps categorize problems based on their computational difficulty and has significant implications for parallel and distributed computing.
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