Algorithm

What is an Algorithm?

An algorithm is a sequence of steps that need to be executed in order to perform an action. Every computer program is an algorithm, but we can also write algorithms that aren't computer programs. A simple and common example of an algorithm would be a cooking recipe, which describes the steps you need to perform in order to cook something. For example, an algorithm for frying an egg:

1. Take a frying pan and put it on a stove.
2. Put oil in the frying pan.
3. Take an egg, crack it, and put it in the frying pan.
4. Turn on the stove.
5. Put a pinch of salt on it.
6. Wait until the egg is fried.
7. Turn off the stove.
8. It's done.

Sometimes, "algorithm" refers to "The Algorithm," which is what some people use to refer to the computer programs that make recommendations automatically on social media, e.g. Youtube's algorithm deciding which videos to recommend to you based on which videos you enjoyed recently. These recommendation algorithms can be extremely complex and even make use of artificial intelligence. However, anything that is a computer program, even AI, is nothing more than an algorithm, than a list of steps for a CPU to follow.