Now algorithm is something that you're going to hear in many different types of industries and applications and what it really means is it's a set of steps and a formal definition is that it's a process or a set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.

and I, think that is a great definition for what an algorithm is once you have fully drilled down on exactly what the goal of it is. And so that is that it's a process it's a set of rules so any time that you're building out some type a program you are going to need a set of steps to follow.

So that could be something like a program like right here.

This is the quicksort algorithm it's one of the most popular algorithms in the computer science field and as you can see each one of these lines is a specific step that the program is following. So it might be something as straightforward as assigning a variable or it could be much more complex and it could involve loops and it could involve conditions and those kinds of components in the program.

Now when it comes to algorithms that can be a intimidating term if you are new to computer science and new to development. And so where I like to take it and the way I like to think about it is an algorithm is not something that is only available in computer programs. That may be the typical usage and that's usually where you're going to hear the term referred to but an algorithm can be used for anything.

So if you are changing a tire you are going to follow an algorithm.

You're going to have to raise the car up, you are going to have to go and unscrew each one of the bolts from the wheel before you can take it off. If you notice every one of these things is a specific step.

So right here we have an algorithm for being able to see how we can fix a tire in the same way that right here with quicksort. This is an algorithm for how we can sort a collection of values. They may have different end goals but at the end of the day they're still using an algorithm, they're using a set of steps, they're using a process that you follow in order to solve a problem.