Question

what is an algorithm?

Answer 1

Hoot! You just asked your first question! Hang tight while I find people to answer it for you. You can thank people who give you good answers by clicking the 'Good Answer' button on the right!

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm

Answer 3

An algorithm is a sequence of steps that solves a particular computational problem.

To specify a computational problem you need to specify what the input to the problem is and the question that you want answered about the input. For example, consider the problem of finding the smallest element in a list of integers.

Input: A list of integers \[a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n\].
Question: What is the smallest integer in the list?

An algorithm is a solution to a computational problem. Here's one possible algorithm for finding the smallest element in the list.

\[
\begin{array}{rl|l}
1: & min = \infty \\
2: & \mathsf{for}\ i = 1, 2, \dots, n \ \mathsf{do:} \\
3: & \quad \mathsf{if}\ a_i < min \ \mathsf{then:} \\
4: & \quad \quad min = a_i \\
5: & \mathsf{return}\ min
\end{array}
\]

Answer 4

An algorithm is defined as a step by step sequence of instructions that describe how to data are to be processed to produce the desired outputs. In essence, an algorithm answers the question: "what methods will you use to solve the problem?"

Answer 5

Adding to samt's answer, the Algorithm definition is way more general. It's not only computational. So, the general one is "A finite sequence of steps that if followed will resolve a problem" A recipe is an example of an algorithm as well.