云南农业大学计算机导论课件Chapter8 Algorithms.pptVIP

8.1 CONCEPT INFORMAL DEFINITION Algorithm: a step-by-step method for solving a problem or doing a task. In this definition, an algorithm is independent of the computer system. More specifically, we should also note that the algorithm accepts a list of input data and creates a list of output data. EXAMPLE We want to develop an algorithm for finding the largest integer among a list of positive integers. The algorithm should find the largest integer among a list of integers of any value(5,1000,10,000,1,000,000,etc.) . The algorithm should be general and not depend on the number of integers. To solve this problem, you need an intuitive approach . First use a small number of integers( e.g., five) and then extend the solution to any number of integers. We call the algorithm FindLargest. Each algorithm has a name to distinguish it from other algorithms. The algorithm receives a list of five integers ( as input ) and gives the largest integer as output. Input The algorithm accepts the list of five integer as input. Processing The algorithm uses the following five steps to find the largest integer. STEP 1 In this step, the algorithm inspect the first integer (12). Since it has not handled the rest of the integers yet, it decides that the largest integer (so far) is the first integer. The algorithm defines a data item , called Largest, and sets its value to the first integer (12). STEP 2 The largest integer so far is 12, but the new number may change the situation. The algorithm makes a compa-rison between the value of largest (12) and the value of the second integer (8). It finds that Largest is larger than the second integer, which means that Largest is still holding the largest integer. There is no need to change the value of largest. STEP 3 The largest integer so far is 12, but the new number (13) is larger than Largest. This means that the value of Largest is no longer valid. The value of Largest should be replace