anytime algorithm


anytime algorithm

(algorithm)An algorithm that returns a sequence ofapproximations to the correct answer such that eachapproximation is no worse than the previous one, i.e. thealgorithm can be stopped at _any time_.

Newton-Raphson iteration applied to finding the square root of a number b is another example:

x = (x + b / x) / 2

Each new x is closer to the square root than the previous one.

Applications might include a real-time control system or achess program that is allowed a fixed thinking time.