Algorithm
An algorithm is a procedural or systematic method for solving a problem
An algorithm has five basic properties [Knuth] ...
- Finiteness -- the process completes after a finite number of steps
- Definiteness -- each step must be precisely defined
- Input -- the data the algorithm processes
- Output -- the result, or indication that the result is not found
- Effectiveness -- the steps must be sufficiently primitive that they can be performed by the executing agent
When one specifies an algorithm, one is programming … a program is an instance of an algorithm