AP CompSci Unit 10 Vocabulary

Algorithm - a finite set of instructions that accomplish a task

Iteration - a repetitive portion of an algorithm which repeats a specified number of times or until a given condition is met

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

Selection - deciding which steps to do next

Sequencing - putting steps in an order

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

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

Linear 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

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

Unreasonable Time - Algorithms with exponential or factorial efficiencies are examples of algorithms that run in an unreasonable amount of time

Decision Problem - a problem with a yes/no answer (e.g., is there a path from A to B?)

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

Optimization Problem - a problem with the goal of finding the "best" solution among many (e.g., what is the shortest path from A to B?)

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

Distributed Computing - a model in which programs are run by multiple devices

Parallel Computing - a model in which programs are broken into small pieces, some of which are run simultaneously

Sequential Computing - a model in which programs run in order, one command at a time

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