The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Computer scientists often deal with abstract problems that are hard to comprehend, but an exciting new algorithm matters to anyone who ...

If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle the easiest pieces first. But this kind of sorting has a cost.

Starting at the beginning of the data set, each item of data is examined until a match is made. Once the item is found, the search ends. Suppose we were to search for the value 2. The search would ...

An algorithm could be used to map out different types of road routes An algorithm is a set of instructions to solve a problem or complete a task. Algorithms are vital for programming, as they provide ...