---
title: "What is an algorithm and how to design it also explain it with examples."  
description: "What is an algorithm and how to design it also explain it with examples."  
author: "Ravi Vishwakarma"  
published: 2023-03-22  
updated: 2023-03-22  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157524/what-is-an-algorithm-and-how-to-design-it-also-explain-it-with-examples  
category: "algorithm"  
tags: ["algorithm", "data structure"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# What is an algorithm and how to design it also explain it with examples.

**What is an [algorithm](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/119/implementing-cryptography-in-c-sharp-dot-net-by-using-sha1-algorithm) and how to [design](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12279/interior-design-and-furniture-store-wordpress-theme) it also [explain](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157854/what-is-system-debugging-explain-some-system-debugging-tools-used-in-modern-computer-systems) it with examples.**

## Replies

### Reply by Krishnapriya Rajeev

An algorithm is a finite set of instructions that specifies a sequence of operations to be carried out in order to solve a specific problem or class of problems. It takes a valid input and produces desired output in a finite amount of time.

To design an algorithm, you should follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Understand the problem and its input and output requirements.
2. Plan your approach by identifying the necessary steps to solve the problem.
3. Write the algorithm using a clear and concise programming language or pseudocode.
4. Test the algorithm with different inputs to ensure it produces the correct output.

For Example

Let's try to write an algorithm to search for an element in an integer array.

1. Understand the problem: We have to search for a specific number in the array and return its index value. We can also understand from the problem that our input is an integer array and an element that we're looking for.
2. Plan your approach: We can approach this problem using the linear search method. Here, we can compare each element of the array with the element we're looking for.
3. Write the algorithm: We can now write an algorithm with the obtained information:

Step 1: Start

Step 2: Read integer array, arr and element x from the user

Step 3: Find the length of the array and store it in n

Step 4: Set i as 0

Step 5: Is i less n, go to step else 6 goto step 9

Step 6: Compare x with arr[i]

Step 7: If x is found in the array, break from the loop

Step 8: Increment i by 1

Step 9: Print i as index

Step 10: Stop

4. Test the algorithm: We can test the algorithm by implementing it in code and executing the program or using the pen and paper method by taking a sample array and element to be found and manually executing the algorithm.


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