You may not realize it, but algorithms enable much of your daily routine. Household chores and routine activities involve a repeatable series of steps. You use a series of steps whenever you put on your clothes, tie your shoes, wash dishes or do the laundry. You execute an algorithm every time you complete one of these chores or activities.
Computer algorithms make possible many technologies. Programmers program computers to perform specific actions by inputting a series of commands. Each set of commands comprises an algorithm. For example, spam blockers and search engines work by way of algorithms. Computer algorithms also permit the programming of stoplights to regulate traffic flow.
Educators teach students how to perform mathematical operations in a repeatable and routine manner. You may not realize it, but whenever you add, subtract, divide or multiply, you use algorithms. Each time you do arithmetic, you engage in a series of algorithmic steps. The process of long division is a common arithmetical algorithm.
You use a kind of algorithm anytime you bake with a recipe. Even a simple task such as baking a frozen pizza requires a systematic process. Cooking instructions make up a common subtype of algorithms. You can consider every step from preheating the oven to mixing the ingredients in a specific order part of the algorithm. Other uses of culinary algorithms include baking a cake and cooking macaroni and cheese.