Question: What is Algorithms?

Ian van der Linde answered on 23 Jun 2011:

An algorithm is a set of instructions for solving a problem. It is commonly used to describe the fundamental routines used in a computer program, but it is actually a very old word. Around 2300 years ago, Euclid came up with an algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers (the biggest number that divides into two other numbers leaving no remainder). It is basically a set of instructions, and includes parts that are optional, depending on the outcome of a question (yes/no), and parts that are repeated, depending on the outcome of a question (yes/no). Algorithms are a formal way to describe how to solve a problem as a series of steps and decisions.