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Algorithm vs Mathematics - What's the difference?

algorithm | mathematics |

As nouns the difference between algorithm and mathematics

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 mathematics is an abstract representational system used in the study of numbers, shapes, structure, change and the relationships between these concepts.

algorithm

English

(wikipedia 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)

    Related terms

    * algorithmic * algorithmics * algorithmization * algorithmize * algebra * algorism

    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

    Anagrams

    * logarithm English eponyms English terms derived from Arabic English terms derived from Persian

    mathematics

    English

    (wikipedia mathematics)

    Alternative forms

    * mathematicks (obsolete)

    Noun

    (-)
  • An abstract representational system used in the study of numbers, shapes, structure, change and the relationships between these concepts.
  • * 2001 , David Salsburg, The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century , page 8
    • In many cases, the mathematics involved are deep and complicated.
  • * 2002 , Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice?: The New Mathematics of Chaos , page 38
    • The answer is 'yes', and the mathematics needed is the theory of probability and its applied cousin, statistics.
  • A person's ability to count, calculate, and use different systems of mathematics at differing levels.
    • My mathematics is not very good.
    Their mathematics are not very good.
    Their mathematics is not very good.

    Usage notes

    * Before the beginning of the 20th century, it was proper to say "My mathematics are not very good".

    Synonyms

    * (ability to use mathematics) numeracy * abbreviation: maths * See also

    Derived terms

    * applied mathematics * astromathematics * biomathematics * discrete mathematics * ethnomathematics * metamathematics * pseudomathematics * pure mathematics * recreational mathematics

    Related terms

    * mathematical * mathematically * mathematician

    See also

    * (wikipedia "mathematics") * (Definitions of mathematics) * polymath

    External links

    * PlanetMath.Org Encyclopedia * Mathematics using gifts * Mathematics Glossary * Mathworld Encyclopedia