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Algorithm vs Calculus - What's the difference?

algorithm | calculus |

As nouns the difference between algorithm and calculus

is that 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 while calculus is (dated|countable) calculation, computation.

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

    calculus

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia calculus)
  • (dated, countable) calculation, computation
  • (countable, mathematics) Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.
  • lambda calculus
    predicate calculus
  • Differential calculus and integral calculus considered as a single subject; analysis.
  • (countable, medicine) A stony concretion that forms in a bodily organ.
  • renal calculus ( = kidney stone)
  • (uncountable, dentistry) Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.
  • (countable) A decision-making method, especially one appropriate for a specialised realm.
  • *
  • Synonyms

    * (in analysis) infinitesimal calculus * (in medicine) stone * (in dentistry) dental calculus, tartar

    Derived terms

    * calculus of moving surfaces * calculus of sums and differences * calculus of variations * dental calculus * differential calculus * felicific calculus * finite-difference calculus * fractional calculus * hedonic calculus * hedonistic calculus * implicational propositional calculus * infinitesimal calculus * integral calculus * join calculus * Kirby calculus * lambda calculus * logical calculus * multivariable calculus * noncalculus * operational calculus * pi-calculus * precalculus * predicate calculus * propositional calculus * tensor calculus * tuple calculus * utility calculus

    See also

    * algebra * analysis * concretion English nouns with irregular plurals ----