An algorithm is a set of instructions for solving a problem in a finite number of steps. The algorithm is said to terminate or halt in a finite number of steps if it always produces a result or a decision, and it never runs into an infinite loop.

An algorithm is usually expressed in a programming language. In Python, for example, the algorithm for finding the largest number in a list can be written as:

def largest(nums):

max = nums[0]

for i in nums:

if i max:

max = i

return max

The algorithm is implemented as a function, largest, …