Algorithms and data structures

Books in this subject area deal with algorithms and data structures. An algorithm is a finite sequence of instructions, an explicit, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, often used for calculation and data processing. It is formally a type of effective method in which a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task, will when given an initial state, proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an end-state. A data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently.