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So let's start with the what

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and there I want to start with algorithm,

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an algorithm is not that hard to understand.

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Often in programming, you have a certain problem where you have some inputs and you want to get to a

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certain output.

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So let's say you have an array of numbers as an input, 2, 1, 3 in this case

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and now let's say our goal here for a given problem, for the application we're writing, for a part of

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that application is to find the minimum number in that array,

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so in this scenario here, that would be the number one, we want to find that minimum number.

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Now how do we get there? Which code do we need to write to get the minimum number out of this array of

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numbers?

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That is the algorithm, the sequence of steps we need there to derive this desired output for the given

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input,

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so for the algorithm we expect an input of a certain format and that format should always be the same

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and we know what we want to get as an output,

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so the minimum number in this case and then it's up to us to come up with a number of steps that help

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us get there, that help us find a solution here.

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That is what we would call an algorithm,

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that sequence of steps that gives us for a given input a certain desired output.

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And here we also see a data structure in action by the way, this array is a data structure,

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of course one that is built into Javascript and built into most programming languages actually

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but still it is a data structure,

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it's a piece of data which also follows certain rules,

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in the case of an array, an ordered list of data where every item has an index and we can work with that

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data structure to solve a certain problem.

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So here we see both important concepts on one simple slide, the data structure is something like an array

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or an object or also maps and sets and the algorithm is a sequence of steps to solve a problem,

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that is what this module is about in the end.

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Now why would you care about this?

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Well if you're working on more complex projects or more complex programs, you might need more sophisticated

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data storage solutions or computation logic to solve certain problems,

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so you simply need to solve certain problems all the time in programming.

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If you're working on something, no matter how complex it is, you typically have certain problems you need

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to solve to make sure that your program does what it should do,

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so to make sure that your application as a whole behaves correctly and that involves a ton of simple

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problems where you might not need to think much about it but even such simple problems would technically

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be algorithms of course but you might also have some more complex issues, more complex tasks you need

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to solve and in order to solve them, you need to know how to think logically, you need to be able to solve

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problems as a programmer and understanding algorithms and how to derive them and how to compare different

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solutions against each other,

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that is therefore a crucial thing

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as a developer. You need to be able to do that so that you can solve any problem and you can write good

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code and in the end also, get hired because being able to solve problems when being provided with them

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in an interview is something recruiters are looking for. Often in a job interview, you will be presented

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with a certain problem,

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so with some input data and a desired output and you need to describe and derive how to get there,

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so you need to build and describe an algorithm whilst you're in a job interview.

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That is a common task and even if you wouldn't care about the other parts, though you really should try

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to become a problem solver

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but even if you wouldn't care about that, even if you just want to ace job interviews, you need to understand

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this algorithm thing and how to derive your own algorithms and think about all of that.

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So this is what this module is about and why you should care

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and with that I'd say let's dive right in and let's build our first own algorithm, maybe this algorithm

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here so that we get a feeling for how that works and which steps it involves.