The word Algorithm means “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations”. Therefore Algorithm refers to a set of rules/instructions that step-by-step define how a work is to be executed upon in order to get the expected results.
In other words,
Algorithm is a step by step procedure, which defines a set of instructions to be executed in certain order to get the desired output.
Algorithms are generally created independent of underlying languages.
Key features of algorithm
From data structure point of view, following are some important categories of algorithms −
-
Search − Algorithm to search an item in a data-structure.
-
Sort − Algorithm to sort items in certain order
-
Insert − Algorithm to insert item in a data-structure
-
Update − Algorithm to update an existing item in a data-structure
-
Delete − Algorithm to delete an existing item from a data-structure
