Some students say the definition
of the algorithm is “the set of instructions applied on the input to get the
output.” In this definition, the word ‘set’ is wrongly placed. Definition
of the set is “collection of elements” and the definition of elements is “any
one of the distinct objects that
belong to that set”. The word distinct is not applied in the algorithm. The algorithm has several steps, what to do next, and there are many duplicates of
the same step.
So the correct definition of an
algorithm is “A step by step procedure for solving a specific type of
problem. The problem can be solved manually
or more usually on a machine”.
But we are interested in
computational problems as we are computer engineers, so the definition
is “an algorithm is a finite sequence of instructions that specify a sequence of operations to be carried out to solve a specific problem or class
of problems”.
After a long period, Donald
Ervin Knuth came. He was born on January 10, 1938, and is a computer
scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. Knuth is known as the "father of algorithmic analysis".
He
is the author of “The Art of Computer Programming” book, in which he
wrote some questions that I think are solvable in 15-20 minutes, 1 week, 1
year, 10 years and there are some questions that are solvable in 20 years if a
man is in regular touch with algorithms.
Donald
Ervin Knuth said that the above definition was correct but there should be five
more characteristics features. These are
1.
Input:- Zero or more quantities
2.
Output:- at least one quantity is produced
3. Definiteness:- each instruction is clear and unambiguous (no doubt or misunderstanding)
4.
Effectiveness:- every instruction must be very basic and feasible (possible)
and result
5.
Finiteness:- the algorithm must terminate after a finite number of steps.
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