Nonnumeric Algorithms

For the first ten years of their existence, computers were used exclusively t o execute numerical calculations. In fact, the primary motive for the construction of the first electric digital computers was the need for a tool that would quickly and accurately carry out a vast range of numerical calculations needed t o support technological advances associated with the War effort. The set of step-bystep instructions that guides a computer in the performance of any of these calculations -- a numerical algorithm -- is most often organized around one or more loops that perform combinations of the four arithmetic functions, exponentiate, and find roots.