What *is* an algorithm? That word strikes terror into the heart of people everywhere, but I'm about to demystify it for you.
An algorithm is just a list of instructions that you can follow to get a desired outcome. It's a series of steps that leads you to a result. In fact, many of us use algorithms pretty frequently. Shopping lists, recipes and DIY websites.
We use algorithms much the same way in computer science, except that we get all excited about making sure that we're using the smoothest algorithms with the least number of steps, which gives the fastest result. We're kind of obsessive like that. Sorting is one of the things that we're a little compulsive about. Searching is another one. Can you figure out why?
Let's put some of that algorithm knowledge to work and make ourselves an outline for a web page. We're going to get a leg-up on our next assignment and start thinking about our first web page. We'll work on it one step at a time.
Get out a piece of paper. In the upper left-hand corner, put the picture of yourself. To the right, list:
* Your name
* Your dream job
* Three fun facts about yourself
We'll be building on this page over the term, so feel free to add some additional information to the bottom of your paper.
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