  We extend the framework by Kawamura and Cook for investigating computational
complexity for operators occurring in analysis. This model is based on
second-order complexity theory for functions on the Baire space, which is
lifted to metric spaces by means of representations. Time is measured in terms
of the length of the input encodings and the required output precision. We
propose the notions of a complete representation and of a regular
representation. We show that complete representations ensure that any
computable function has a time bound. Regular representations generalize
Kawamura and Cook's more restrictive notion of a second-order representation,
while still guaranteeing fast computability of the length of the encodings.
Applying these notions, we investigate the relationship between purely metric
properties of a metric space and the existence of a representation such that
the metric is computable within bounded time. We show that a bound on the
running time of the metric can be straightforwardly translated into size bounds
of compact subsets of the metric space. Conversely, for compact spaces and for
Banach spaces we construct a family of admissible, complete, regular
representations that allow for fast computation of the metric and provide short
encodings. Here it is necessary to trade the time bound off against the length
of encodings.
