Algorithms

What's an algorithm?

An algorithm is simply a series of logical instructions that show, from start to finish, how to accomplish a task. By this broad definition, a cake recipe counts as an algorithm.

– [[Hello World]]

Usually, algorithms refer to something a little more specific. They still boil down to a list of step-by-step instructions, but these algorithms are almost always mathematical objects.

– [[Hello World]]

Types of algorithm

There's no overall consensus on how to group algorithms, but you can think of four main categories ([[Hello World]]):

• [[prioritization]] (making an ordered list)
• [[classification]] (picking a category)
• [[association]] (finding links)
• [[filtering]] (isolating what's important)

Most algorithms are some combination of the above.

Algorithmic approaches

You can think of the approaches taken by algorithms as broadly fitting into two key paradigms.

• [[Rule-based algorithms]]
• [[Machine-learning algorithms]]