iteration (programming) Repetition of a sequence of instructions. A fundamental part of many algorithms. Iteration is characterised by a set of initial conditions, an iterative step and a termination condition.
A well known example of iteration in mathematics is Newton-Raphson iteration. Iteration in programs is expressed using a loop, e.g. in C: new_x = n/2; do { x = new_x; new_x = 0.5 * (x + n/x); } while (abs(new_x-x) > epsilon); Iteration can be expressed in functional languages using recursion: solve x n = if abs(new_x-x) > epsilon then solve new_x n else new_x where new_x = 0.5 * (x + n/x) solve n/2 n
(1998-04-04)
