Each algorithm is a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task. Starting from an initial state, the instructions describe a computation that proceeds through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in a final ending state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as randomized algorithms, incorporate randomness.
A partial formalization of the concept began with attempts to solve the Entscheidungsproblem (the "decision problem") posed by David Hilbert in 1928. Subsequent formalizations were framed as attempts to define "effective calculability" or "effective method"; those formalizations included the Gödel–Herbrand–Kleene recursive functions of 1930, 1934 and 1935, Alonzo Church's lambda calculus of 1936, Emil Post's "Formulation 1" of 1936, and Alan Turing's Turing machines of 1936–7 and 1939.
The adjective "continuous" when applied to the word "algorithm" can mean:
An algorithm operating on data that represents continuous quantities, even though this data is represented by discrete approximations – such algorithms are studied in numerical analysis; or
An algorithm in the form of a differential equation that operates continuously on the data, running on an analog computer.
Why algorithms are necessary: an informal definition
For a detailed presentation of the various points of view around the definition of "algorithm" see Algorithm characterizations. For examples of simple addition algorithms specified in the detailed manner described in Algorithm characterizations, see Algorithm examples.
While there is no generally accepted formal definition of "algorithm," an informal definition could be "a process that performs some sequence of operations." For some people, a program is only an algorithm if it stops eventually. For others, a program is only an algorithm if it stops before a given number of calculation steps.
A prototypical example of an algorithm is Euclid's algorithm to determine the maximum common divisor of two integers.
We can derive clues to the issues involved and an informal meaning of the word from the following quotation from Boolos & Jeffrey (1974, 1999) (boldface added):
No human being can write fast enough, or long enough, or small enough† ( †"smaller and smaller without limit ...you'd be trying to write on molecules, on atoms, on electrons") to list all members of an enumerably infinite set by writing out their names, one after another, in some notation. But humans can do something equally useful, in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets: They can give explicit instructions for determining the nth member of the set, for arbitrary finite n. Such instructions are to be given quite explicitly, in a form in which they could be followed by a computing machine, or by a human who is capable of carrying out only very elementary operations on symbols
The term "enumerably infinite" means "countable using integers perhaps extending to infinity." Thus Boolos and Jeffrey are saying that an algorithm implies instructions for a process that "creates" output integers from an arbitrary "input" integer or integers that, in theory, can be chosen from 0 to infinity. Thus we might expect an algorithm to be an algebraic equation such as y = m + n — two arbitrary "input variables" m and n that produce an output y. As we see in Algorithm characterizations — the word algorithm implies much more than this, something on the order of (for our addition example):
Precise instructions (in language understood by "the computer") for a "fast, efficient, good" process that specifies the "moves" of "the computer" (machine or human, equipped with the necessary internally contained information and capabilities) to find, decode, and then munch arbitrary input integers/symbols m and n, symbols + and = ... and (reliably, correctly, "effectively") produce, in a "reasonable" time, output-integer y at a specified place and in a specified format.
The concept of algorithm is also used to define the notion of decidability. That notion is central for explaining how formal systems come into being starting from a small set of axioms and rules. In logic, the time that an algorithm requires to complete cannot be measured, as it is not apparently related with our customary physical dimension. From such uncertainties, that characterize ongoing work, stems the unavailability of a definition of algorithm that suits both concrete (in some sense) and abstract usage of the term.
Formalization
Algorithms are essential to the way computers process information. Many computer programs contain algorithms that specify the specific instructions a computer should perform (in a specific order) to carry out a specified task, such as calculating employees' paychecks or printing students' report cards. Thus, an algorithm can be considered to be any sequence of operations that can be simulated by a Turing-complete system. Authors who assert this thesis include Minsky (1967), Savage (1987) and Gurevich (2000):
Minsky: "But we will also maintain, with Turing . . . that any procedure which could "naturally" be called effective, can in fact be realized by a (simple) machine. Although this may seem extreme, the arguments . . . in its favor are hard to refute".
Gurevich: "...Turing's informal argument in favor of his thesis justifies a stronger thesis: every algorithm can be simulated by a Turing machine ... according to Savage (1987), an algorithm is a computational process defined by a Turing machine".
Typically, when an algorithm is associated with processing information, data is read from an input source, written to an output device, and/or stored for further processing. Stored data is regarded as part of the internal state of the entity performing the algorithm. In practice, the state is stored in one or more data structures.
For some such computational process, the algorithm must be rigorously defined: specified in the way it applies in all possible circumstances that could arise. That is, any conditional steps must be systematically dealt with, case-by-case; the criteria for each case must be clear (and computable).
Because an algorithm is a precise list of precise steps, the order of computation will always be critical to the functioning of the algorithm. Instructions are usually assumed to be listed explicitly, and are described as starting "from the top" and going "down to the bottom", an idea that is described more formally by flow of control.
So far, this discussion of the formalization of an algorithm has assumed the premises of imperative programming. This is the most common conception, and it attempts to describe a task in discrete, "mechanical" means. Unique to this conception of formalized algorithms is the assignment operation, setting the value of a variable. It derives from the intuition of "memory" as a scratchpad. There is an example below of such an assignment.
For some alternate conceptions of what constitutes an algorithm see functional programming and logic programming .
Termination
Some writers restrict the definition of algorithm to procedures that eventually finish. In such a category Kleene places the "decision procedure or decision method or algorithm for the question". Others, including Kleene, include procedures that could run forever without stopping; such a procedure has been called a "computational method" or "calculation procedure or algorithm (and hence a calculation problem) in relation to a general question which requires for an answer, not yes or no, but the exhibiting of some object".
Minsky makes the pertinent observation, in regards to determining whether an algorithm will eventually terminate (from a particular starting state):
But if the length of the process isn't known in advance, then "trying" it may not be decisive, because if the process does go on forever—then at no time will we ever be sure of the answer.
As it happens, no other method can do any better, as was shown by Alan Turing with his celebrated result on the undecidability of the so-called halting problem. There is no algorithmic procedure for determining whether or not arbitrary algorithms terminate from given starting states. The analysis of algorithms for their likelihood of termination is called termination analysis.
See the examples of (im-)"proper" subtraction at partial function for more about what can happen when an algorithm fails for certain of its input numbers—e.g., (i) non-termination, (ii) production of "junk" (output in the wrong format to be considered a number) or no number(s) at all (halt ends the computation with no output), (iii) wrong number(s), or (iv) a combination of these. Kleene proposed that the production of "junk" or failure to produce a number is solved by having the algorithm detect these instances and produce e.g., an error message (he suggested "0"), or preferably, force the algorithm into an endless loop. Davis (1958) does this to his subtraction algorithm—he fixes his algorithm in a second example so that it is proper subtraction and it terminates. Along with the logical outcomes "true" and "false" Kleene (1952) also proposes the use of a third logical symbol "u" — undecided — thus an algorithm will always produce something when confronted with a "proposition". The problem of wrong answers must be solved with an independent "proof" of the algorithm e.g., using induction:
We normally require auxiliary evidence for this [that the algorithm correctly defines a mu recursive function], e.g, in the form of an inductive proof that, for each argument value, the computation terminates with a unique value.
Expressing algorithms
Algorithms can be expressed in many kinds of notation, including natural languages, pseudocode, flowcharts, programming languages or control tables (processed by interpreters). Natural language expressions of algorithms tend to be verbose and ambiguous, and are rarely used for complex or technical algorithms. Pseudocode, flowcharts and control tables are structured ways to express algorithms that avoid many of the ambiguities common in natural language statements, while remaining independent of a particular implementation language. Programming languages are primarily intended for expressing algorithms in a form that can be executed by a computer, but are often used as a way to define or document algorithms.
There is a wide variety of representations possible and one can express a given Turing machine program as a sequence of machine tables (see more at finite state machine and state transition table), as flowcharts (see more at state diagram), or as a form of rudimentary machine code or assembly code called "sets of quadruples" (see more at Turing machine).
Sometimes it is helpful in the description of an algorithm to supplement small "flow charts" (state diagrams) with natural-language and/or arithmetic expressions written inside "block diagrams" to summarize what the "flow charts" are accomplishing.
Representations of algorithms are generally classed into three accepted levels of Turing machine description:
1 High-level description:
"...prose to describe an algorithm, ignoring the implementation details. At this level we do not need to mention how the machine manages its tape or head."
2 Implementation description:
"...prose used to define the way the Turing machine uses its head and the way that it stores data on its tape. At this level we do not give details of states or transition function."
3 Formal description:
Most detailed, "lowest level", gives the Turing machine's "state table".
For an example of the simple algorithm "Add m+n" described in all three levels see Algorithm examples.
Computer algorithms
In computer systems, an algorithm is basically an instance of logic written in software by software developers to be effective for the intended "target" computer(s), in order for the software on the target machines to do something. For instance, if a person is writing software that is supposed to print out a PDF document located at the operating system folder "/My Documents" at computer drive "D:" every Friday at 10 pm, they will write an algorithm that specifies the following actions: "If today's date (computer time) is 'Friday,' open the document at 'D:/My Documents' and call the 'print' function". While this simple algorithm does not look into whether the printer has enough paper or whether the document has been moved into a different location, one can make this algorithm more robust and anticipate these problems by rewriting it as a formal CASE statement[15] or as a (carefully crafted) sequence of IF-THEN-ELSE statements. For example the CASE statement might appear as follows (there are other possibilities):
CASE 1: IF today's date is NOT Friday THEN exit this CASE instruction ELSE
CASE 2: IF today's date is Friday AND the document is located at 'D:/My Documents' AND there is paper in the printer THEN print the document (and exit this CASE instruction) ELSE
CASE 3: IF today's date is Friday AND the document is NOT located at 'D:/My Documents' THEN display 'document not found' error message (and exit this CASE instruction) ELSE
CASE 4: IF today's date is Friday AND the document is located at 'D:/My Documents' AND there is NO paper in the printer THEN (i) display 'out of paper' error message and (ii) exit.
Note that CASE 3 includes two possibilities: (i) the document is NOT located at 'D:/My Documents' AND there's paper in the printer OR (ii) the document is NOT located at 'D:/My Documents' AND there's NO paper in the printer.
The sequence of IF-THEN-ELSE tests might look like this:
TEST 1: IF today's date is NOT Friday THEN done ELSE TEST 2:
TEST 2: IF the document is NOT located at 'D:/My Documents' THEN display 'document not found' error message ELSE TEST 3:
TEST 3: IF there is NO paper in the printer THEN display 'out of paper' error message ELSE print the document.
These examples' logic grants precedence to the instance of "NO document at 'D:/My Documents' ". Also observe that in a well-crafted CASE statement or sequence of IF-THEN-ELSE statements the number of distinct actions—4 in these examples: do nothing, print the document, display 'document not found', display 'out of paper' – equals the number of cases.
Given unlimited memory, a computational machine with the ability to execute either a set of CASE statements or a sequence of IF-THEN-ELSE statements is Turing complete. Therefore, anything that is computable can be computed by this machine. This form of algorithm is fundamental to computer programming in all its forms (see more at McCarthy formalism).
Implementation
Most algorithms are intended to be implemented as computer programs. However, algorithms are also implemented by other means, such as in a biological neural network (for example, the human brain implementing arithmetic or an insect looking for food), in an electrical circuit, or in a mechanical device.
