Algorithm

Definition

A set of rules, or instructions, to perform a calculation or other problem-solving operations.

Relevance

Often, you'll need the same operation performed with different data, writing algorithms that can do this will let you reuse more code!

Explanation

An algorithm is a set of instructions used to perform a task such as sorting a list, finding an element in a list, squaring a number, etc.

Example

// An example of a simple algorithm to search for an element in a list may look like the following

bool Search(string name, List<string> contacts)
{
	for(int i = 0; i < contacts.Count; i++)
	{
		if(contacts[i] == name)
		{
			// result found!
			return true;
		}
    }
    // result not found after the loop
    return false;
}

Resources

See also

• Function
• Heapsort
• Quicksort
• Hash Table
• Recursion
• Binary Search Tree
• Greedy Algorithm
• Binomial Heap
• NP-Completeness
• Graph