what is algorithm: "A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer". In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm (/ˈælɡərɪðəm/ AL-gə-ri-dhəm) is a self-contained step-by-step set of operations to be performed. Algorithms perform calculation, data processing, and/or automated reasoning tasks. The English word 'algorithm' comes from Medieval Latin word algorism and the Greek word "arithmos" (ἀριθμός). The word 'algorism' (and therefore, the derived word 'algorithm') comes from Al-Khwārizmī (Persian: خوارزمی, c. 780–850), a Persian mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and scholar. English adopted the French term, but it wasn't until the late 19th century that "algorithm" took on the meaning that it has in modern English. In English, it was first used about 1230 and then by Chaucer in 1391. Another early use of the word is from 1240, in a manual titled Carmen de Algorismo composed by Alexandre de Villedieu. It...