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Algorithm vs Sequence - What's the difference?

algorithm | sequence |

As a noun algorithm

is a precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input value and yields an output value in a finite number of steps.

As a verb sequence is

.

As an adjective sequence is

sequenced.

algorithm

Alternative forms

* algorism (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input value and yields an output value in a finite number of steps.
  • * 1990 , Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms'': page 1. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 1999 (''23rd printing )
  • Informally, an algorithm''''' is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value, or set of values, as input and produces some value, or set of values, as output. An ' algorithm is thus a sequence of computational steps that transform the input into the output.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)
  • , volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}
  • (archaic) Calculation with Arabic numerals; algorism.
  • Hyponyms

    (hyp-top) * approximation algorithm * checksum algorithm * classification algorithm * compression algorithm * computer arithmetic algorithm * distributed algorithm * divide and conquer algorithm (hyp-mid) * genetic algorithm * greedy algorithm * parallel algorithm * randomized algorithm * randomized algorithm * semi-algorithm * sequential algorithm (hyp-bottom)

    Usage notes

    * Though some technical definitions require that an algorithm always terminate in a finite number of steps, this distinction is not generally observed in practice.

    See also

    * data structure * function * program

    sequence

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A set of things next to each other in a set order; a series
  • A series of musical phrases where a theme or melody is repeated, with some change each time, such as in pitch or length (example: opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony ).
  • A musical composition used in some Catholic Masses between the readings. The most famous sequence is the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) formerly used in funeral services.
  • (mathematics) An ordered list of objects.
  • A subsequent event; a consequence or result.
  • * 1891 , Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country , Nebraska 2005, pp. 12-13:
  • he found no words to convey the impressions he had received; then he gave way to the anger always the sequence of the antagonism of opinion between them.
  • A series of shots that depict a single action or style in a film, television show etc.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=April 26 , author=Tasha Robinson , title=Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits : , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=What follows is a bunch of nonstop goofery involving chase sequences', dream ' sequences , fast-changing costumes and an improbable beard, a little musical help from Flight Of The Conchords, and ultimately a very physical confrontation with a surprisingly spry Victoria. }}
  • (card games) A meld consisting of three or more cards of successive ranks in the same suit, such as the four, five and six of hearts.
  • Usage notes

    * (mathematics) Beginning students often confuse (term) with (series).

    Verb

  • to arrange in an order
  • to determine the order of things, especially of amino acids in a protein, or of bases in a nucleic acid
  • to produce (music) with a sequencer