40 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know

Concern 1 – Will the designed algorithm produce the result we expect?

An algorithm is a mathematical solution to a real-world problem. To be useful, it should produce accurate results. How to verify the correctness of an algorithm should not be an afterthought; instead, it should be baked into the design of the algorithm. Before strategizing how to verify an algorithm, we need to think about the following two aspects:

• Defining the truth: To verify the algorithm, we need some known correct results for a given set of inputs. These known correct results are called the truths, in the context of the problem we are trying to solve. The truth is important as it is used as a reference when we iteratively work on evolving our algorithm toward a better ...