It's me! Your coding teacher, Edward!
We all know that coding is a way of humans to communicate with computers. But the way we ask them to do it has something to do with algorithms.
The word “algorithm” may not be important for students, but the truth is that algorithms are all around them, relating everything from the technology they use to the simple decisions they make every day. Algorithms are fascinating and, although some are quite complex, the concept itself is actually quite simple.
Yes, algorithm is a very SIMPLE concept.
So, what is it?
An algorithm is a step-by-step and detailed instruction set or formula for solving a problem or completing a task. In computing, programmers write algorithms that instruct the computer how to perform a task.
When you think of an algorithm in the most general way (not just in regards to computing), algorithms are everywhere.
A recipe for making food is an algorithm
the method you use to solve addition or long division problems is an algorithm
and the process of folding a shirt or a pair of pants is an algorithm
Even your morning routine could be considered an algorithm
This is one example of an algorithm:
This algorithm is actually based on a morning routine of a student going to school!
We want to encourage our students to write out a personal algorithm, or the algorithm for an even simpler task, like brushing their teeth or eating cereal. Without knowing it, they’ll be exploring important computational concepts like repetition (brush bottom left teeth five times), sequencing (put cereal in bowl and then put in milk), and conditional logic (if the bowl is empty, stop eating).