blog/mdad/what-is-an-algorithm/index.html (view raw)
1<!DOCTYPE html>
2<html>
3<head>
4<meta charset="utf-8" />
5<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
6<title>What is an algorithm?</title>
7<link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/style.css">
8</head>
9<body>
10<main>
11<p>Algorithms are a sequence of instructions that can be followed to achieve <em>something</em>. That something can be anything, and depends entirely on your problem!</p>
12<div class="date-created-modified">Created 2020-02-25<br>
13Modified 2020-03-18</div>
14<p>For example, a recipe to cook some really nice food is an algorithm: it guides you, step by step, to cook something nice. People dealing with mathemathics also apply algorithms to transform their data. And computers <em>love</em> algorithms, too!</p>
15<p>In reality, any computer program can basically be thought as an algorithm. It contains a series of instructions for the computer to execute. Running them is a process that takes time, consumes input and produces output. This is also why terms like «procedure» come up when talking about them.</p>
16<p>Computer programs (their algorithms) are normally written in some more specific language, like Java or Python. The instructions are very clear here, which is what we need! A natural language like English is a lot harder to process, and ambiguous. I’m sure you’ve been in arguments because the other person didn’t understand you!</p>
17<h2 class="title" id="references"><a class="anchor" href="#references">¶</a>References</h2>
18<ul>
19<li>algorithm – definition and meaning: <a href="https://www.wordnik.com/words/algorithm">https://www.wordnik.com/words/algorithm</a></li>
20<li>Algorithm: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm</a></li>
21<li>What is a «computer algorithm»?: <a href="https://computer.howstuffworks.com/what-is-a-computer-algorithm.htm">https://computer.howstuffworks.com/what-is-a-computer-algorithm.htm</a></li>
22</ul>
23</main>
24</body>
25</html>
26