Algorithm
An algorithm is a finite list of unambiguous instructions that solves every problem of a given kind in a finite number of steps. Long division and Euclid's method for finding a greatest common divisor are algorithms, and both were in use long before the word existed. Turing gave the informal notion a precise model in 1936, and the Church-Turing thesis is the claim that anything computable by any reasonable method is computable by that model. Some clearly stated problems have no algorithm at all.
Why it matters
It is the concept that links mathematics to computing, and it draws the line between what a machine can be programmed to settle and what it cannot.
Also written: algorithms, computability, computable
Where it comes up
Read about Algorithm on Wikipedia
Sources
- Algorithm Wikipedia
- Church-Turing thesis Wikipedia
- Turing Machines Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe model itself, explained without assuming any computing background.
