Unit 6 - Algorithms Vocabulary

a general description of a task that can (or cannot) be solved with an algorithm

• Problem

• Algorithm

• Linear Search

• Binary Search

a finite set of instructions that accomplish a task.

• Problem

• Algorithm

• Linear Search

• Binary Search

a search algorithm which checks each element of a list, in order, until the desired value is found or all elements in the list have been checked.

• Problem

• Algorithm

• Linear Search

• Binary Search

a search algorithm that starts at the middle of a sorted set of numbers and removes half of the data; this process repeats until the desired value is found or all elements have been eliminated.

• Problem

• Algorithm

• Linear Search

• Binary Search

a measure of how many steps are needed to complete an algorithm

• efficiency

• reasonable time

• unreasonable time

• speedup

Algorithms with a polynomial efficiency or lower (constant, linear, square, cube, etc.) are said to run in a(n) _____________ amount of time.

• efficiency

• reasonable time

• unreasonable time

• speedup

Algorithms with exponential or factorial efficiencies are examples of algorithms that run in a(n) ________________ amount of time

• efficiency

• reasonable time

• unreasonable time

• speedup

the time used to complete a task sequentially divided by the time to complete a task in parallel

• efficiency

• reasonable time

• unreasonable time

• speedup

provides a "good enough" solution to a problem when an actual solution is impractical or impossible

• heuristic

• undecidable problem

• decision problem

• optimization problem

a problem for which no algorithm can be constructed that is always capable of providing a correct yes-or-no answer

• heuristic

• undecidable problem

• decision problem

• optimization problem