hibernation

n 1: the torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the

winter

2: cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter;

especially slowing of metabolism in some animals

3: the act of retiring into inactivity; "he emerged from his

hibernation to make his first appearance in several years"

iteration

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 {loops}, 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)