According to the National Industry of Standards and Technology, an algorithm is a: "a computable set of steps to achieve a desired result." The Persian author bu Ja'far Mohammed ibn Mûsâ al-Khowârizmî wrote a book in 825 AD first talking about these type of rules.
In other words, it is a pattern used in order to solve a problem.
One great example of an algorithm is Rubiks Cube. There are three different, popular algorithms including Thistlethwaite's Algorithm, Kociemba's Algorithm, and Korf's Algorithm (Optimal Solutions for Rubik's Cube). These different algorithms all involve a series of spins in order to assemble the cube correctly.
Princeton defines a computer as: "a machine for performing calculations automatically." For me today, a computer is something that helps me to perform almost all of the work in my life. It enables me to write, communicate, listen to music, edit pictures, etc.
The advanced calculations that my machine does automatically is what runs my life day to day. FLOPs (FLoating point Operations Per Second) are what computer speeds are measured in today. A simple calculator would executre only a few FLOPSs per second while a supercomputer would use about 900 GFLOPS (gigaflops).
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Thanks for the video! Now I can impress all of my friends!
ReplyDeleteI never viewed a Rubix Cube as an algorithim, but I guess it is, just like the Abacus is an example of an early computer.
ReplyDeleteNote that the invention of the algorithm, which after all is a kind of computer program, arguably precedes the invention of the computer itself.
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