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Algorithm vs Architecture - What's the difference?

algorithm | architecture |

As nouns the difference between algorithm and architecture

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 architecture is the art and science of designing and managing the construction of buildings and other structures, particularly if they are well proportioned and decorated.

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

    architecture

    Noun

  • The art and science of designing and managing the construction of buildings and other structures, particularly if they are well proportioned and decorated.
  • The architecture throughout NYC is amazing.
  • The profession of an architect.
  • Any particular style of building design.
  • Construction, in a more general sense; frame or structure; workmanship.
  • * Tyndall
  • the architecture of grasses, plants, and trees
  • * Burnet
  • the formation of the first earth being a piece of divine architecture
  • A unifying structure.
  • (computing) A specific model of a microchip or CPU.
  • The Intel architectures have more software written for them.
  • The structure and design of a system or product.
  • * 2004 , Prof P.C.P. Bhatt, (nptel.iitm.ac.in) Module 14: Unix Kernel Architecture
  • The kernel runs the show, i.e. it manages all the operations in a Unix flavored environment. The kernel architecture must support the primary Unix requirements. These requirements fall in two categories namely, functions for process management and functions for file management (files include device files). Process management entails allocation of resources including CPU, memory, and offers services that processes may need. The file management in itself involves handling all the files required by processes, communication with device drives and regulating transmission of data to and from peripherals.
    The architecture of the company's billing system is designed to support its business goals.

    Derived terms

    * enterprise architecture * * microarchitecture * software architecture * system architecture

    See also

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