When a program attempts to search a data structure for a particular item, it uses an algorithm. An algorithm is a process, defined in code, for carrying out a specific task.

In the age of Facebook and Netflix, the word “algorithm” has become so ubiquitous, and its connotation so amorphous, that it’s verging on jargon—maybe even cliché. The Atlantic’s Ian ...

While genetic algorithms yield numbers, genetic programs yield ever-improving computer programs. Written in languages such as LISP and Scheme, genetic programming requires the determination of a ...