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Data Structures - Algorithms Basics

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, independent of programming languages, and can be categorized into search, sort, insert, update, and delete operations. Key characteristics of algorithms include being unambiguous, having defined inputs and outputs, finiteness, feasibility, and independence from programming code. Writing algorithms involves a process that is problem-dependent, and they can be expressed in various formats to facilitate understanding and analysis.

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7 views2 pages

Data Structures - Algorithms Basics

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, independent of programming languages, and can be categorized into search, sort, insert, update, and delete operations. Key characteristics of algorithms include being unambiguous, having defined inputs and outputs, finiteness, feasibility, and independence from programming code. Writing algorithms involves a process that is problem-dependent, and they can be expressed in various formats to facilitate understanding and analysis.

Uploaded by

disawa3755
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Data Structures - Algorithms Basics

Algorithm is a step-by-step procedure, which defines a set of instructions to be


executed in a certain order to get the desired output. Algorithms are generally
created independent of underlying languages, i.e. an algorithm can be
implemented in more than one programming language.

From the 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 a 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.

Characteristics of an Algorithm
Not all procedures can be called an algorithm. An algorithm should have the
following characteristics −

Unambiguous − Algorithm should be clear and unambiguous. Each of its


steps (or phases), and their inputs/outputs should be clear and must lead
to only one meaning.
Input − An algorithm should have 0 or more well-defined inputs.
Output − An algorithm should have 1 or more well-defined outputs, and
should match the desired output.
Finiteness − Algorithms must terminate after a finite number of steps.
Feasibility − Should be feasible with the available resources.
Independent − An algorithm should have step-by-step directions, which
should be independent of any programming code.

How to Write an Algorithm?


There are no well-defined standards for writing algorithms. Rather, it is problem
and resource dependent. Algorithms are never written to support a particular
programming code.

As we know that all programming languages share basic code constructs like
loops (do, for, while), flow-control (if-else), etc. These common constructs can be
used to write an algorithm.

We write algorithms in a step-by-step manner, but it is not always the case.


Algorithm writing is a process and is executed after the problem domain is well-
defined. That is, we should know the problem domain, for which we are designing
a solution.

Example
Let's try to learn algorithm-writing by using an example.

Problem − Design an algorithm to add two numbers and display the result.

Step 1 − START
Step 2 − declare three integers a, b & c
Step 3 − define values of a & b
Step 4 − add values of a & b
Step 5 − store output of step 4 to c
Step 6 − print c
Step 7 − STOP

Algorithms tell the programmers how to code the program. Alternatively, the
algorithm can be written as −

Step 1 − START ADD


Step 2 − get values of a & b
Step 3 − c ← a + b
Step 4 − display c
Step 5 − STOP

In design and analysis of algorithms, usually the second method is used to


describe an algorithm. It makes it easy for the analyst to analyze the algorithm
ignoring all unwanted definitions. He can observe what operations are being used

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