The following table summarizes the three methods.
| Scheme: | Truncation Error: | Stability requirements: |
| Crank-Nicolson | \mathcal{O}(\Delta x^2) and \mathcal{O}(\Delta t^2) | Stable for all \Delta t and \Delta x . |
| Backward Euler | \mathcal{O}(\Delta x^2) and \mathcal{O}(\Delta t) | Stable for all \Delta t and \Delta x . |
| Forward Euler | \mathcal{O}(\Delta x^2) and \mathcal{O}(\Delta t) | \Delta t\leq \frac{1}{2}\Delta x^2 |