1
Sieve of Eratosthenes
Ancient algorithm for generating prime numbers
An ancient mathematical algorithm that finds every prime number up to any limit chosen.
Computer science · Curated list
Algorithms: the 30 most written about
Sieve of Eratosthenes, Euclidean algorithm, Quicksort and 27 more, ranked by how much of the world has written about each one.
- Entries
- 30
- Photographed
- 21
- Fetched
- 2026-09-25
Algorithms, ranked
Most written-about first. Each description summarises the algorithm's Wikipedia article, which its name links to.
-
2
Euclidean algorithm
Algorithm for computing greatest common divisors
Also called Euclid's algorithm, an efficient mathematical method for finding the GCD, or greatest common divisor, of two integers: the biggest number dividing both of them exactly. It takes its name from the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, who first set it out in his Elements.
3
4
Bubble sort
Simple sorting algorithm using comparisons
Also called sinking sort, a simple sorting algorithm that goes through the input list over and over, element by element, comparing each element with the next and swapping them when needed. The passes continue until one goes by with no swaps, which means the list is fully sorted.
Wikidata · Photo: Simpsons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0
5
Monte Carlo method
Probabilistic problem-solving algorithm
Also called Monte Carlo experiments or simulations, a broad class of computational algorithms that get numerical results through repeated random sampling, an idea conceived by the Polish mathematician Stanisław Ulam. The basic idea is to use randomness to solve problems that are deterministic.
6
Dijkstra's algorithm
Algorithm for finding shortest paths
An algorithm that finds the shortest routes between the nodes of a weighted graph, which might represent something like a road network. The computer scientist Edsger W. Dijkstra conceived it in 1956 and published it three years later.
7
Advanced Encryption Standard
Standard for the encryption of electronic data
Usually shortened to AES, and first known as Rijndael, a specification for encrypting electronic data that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) established in 2001.
Wikidata · Photo: Matt Crypto, Public domain
8
Binary search
Search algorithm used in sorted arrays
Also called half-interval search, logarithmic search or binary chop, a search algorithm of computer science that locates a target value in a sorted array. It works by comparing the target with the element in the middle of the array.
Wikidata · Photo: AlwaysAngry, CC BY-SA 4.0
9
Data Encryption Standard
Early unclassified symmetric-key block cipher
A symmetric-key algorithm for encrypting digital data. Its key, just 56 bits long, is too short to be secure for modern uses, but it did much to advance cryptography.
Wikidata · Photo: The original uploader was Matt Crypto at English Wikipedia . Later versions were uploaded by Ed g2s at en.wikipedia ., CC BY 3.0 us
10
Merge sort
Divide and conquer sorting algorithm
A general-purpose sorting algorithm based on comparisons, and an efficient one. Most implementations are stable: equal elements keep the same order in the output as in the input.
- 11
- 12
Selection sort
Sorting algorithm
An in-place comparison sorting algorithm of computer science. Its time complexity of O(n²) makes it slow on large lists, and it usually does worse than insertion sort, which is similar.
13
Insertion sort
Sorting algorithm
A simple sorting algorithm that makes the final sorted array (or list) by comparison, adding one item at a time. On large lists it is much less efficient than more advanced algorithms such as merge sort, heapsort or quicksort.
Wikidata · Photo: Nuno Nogueira ( Nmnogueira ), CC BY-SA 2.5
14
Newton's method
Algorithm for finding zeros of functions
Also called the Newton–Raphson method, after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson, a root-finding algorithm of numerical analysis that approximates the roots of a real-valued function more and more closely. In its simplest form it starts from such a function f, its derivative f′, and a first guess x₀ at a root of f.
15
PageRank
Algorithm used by Google Search to rank web pages
Often shortened to PR, the algorithm Google Search uses to rank web pages in its results. Its name refers both to "web page" and to Larry Page, one of Google's co-founders.
Wikidata · Photo: en:User:345Kai , User:Stannered, Public domain
16
Depth-first search
Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph
Usually shortened to DFS, a computer science algorithm for traversing or searching graph or tree data structures. Starting at the root node, it goes as far as it can down each branch before backtracking.
Wikidata · Photo: Alexander Drichel, CC BY-SA 3.0
17
Breadth-first search
Algorithm to search the nodes of a graph
Usually shortened to BFS, a computer science algorithm that searches a tree data structure for a node with a given property. Starting at the root, it visits every node at the current depth before moving down to the next level.
Wikidata · Photo: Alexander Drichel, CC BY 3.0
18
Heapsort
Sorting algorithm using the heap data structure
An efficient comparison-based sorting algorithm of computer science. It rearranges the input array into a heap, then keeps taking the largest node off the heap and putting it at the end of the array, much as Selection sort does.
Wikidata · Photo: de:User:RolandH, CC BY-SA 3.0
- 19
Huffman coding
Technique to compress data
In information theory and computer science, a Huffman code is a particular kind of optimal prefix code, widely used for lossless data compression; finding or using one is Huffman coding. David A. Huffman developed the algorithm while a Sc.D. student at MIT, and published it in his 1952 paper "A Method for the Construction of Minimum-Redundancy Codes".
- 20
Linear search
Sequentially looking in an array
Also called sequential search, a computer science method for finding an element in a list. It checks the elements one after another until it finds a match or has searched the whole list.
- 21
Prim's algorithm
Method for finding minimum spanning trees
A greedy algorithm of computer science that finds a minimum spanning tree of a weighted undirected graph: a subset of edges forming a tree that includes every vertex, with the edges' total weight as small as possible.
22
Euler method
Approach to finding numerical solutions of ordinary differential equations
In computational science and mathematics, a first-order numerical way to solve ODEs, ordinary differential equations, from a given initial value. Of the explicit methods for integrating such equations numerically it is the most basic, and it is the simplest Runge–Kutta method.
23
A* search algorithm
Algorithm used for pathfinding and graph traversal
An algorithm for pathfinding and graph traversal, used across computer science because it is complete, optimal and optimally efficient. From a weighted graph, a starting node and a target node, it works out the shortest path between the two.
Wikidata · Photo: dbenzhuser, CC BY-SA 3.0
24
Shellsort
Sorting algorithm which uses multiple comparison intervals
Also called Shell sort or Shell's method, an in-place comparison sort. It can be seen as a generalisation either of sorting by insertion or of sorting by exchange.
Wikidata · Photo: Simpsons contributor, CC0
- 25
SHA-1
Cryptographic hash function
A cryptographic hash function that takes an input and produces a hash value of 160 bits (20 bytes), called a message digest and usually written as 40 hexadecimal digits. The United States National Security Agency designed it, and it is a U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard.
- 26
Radix sort
Non-comparative lexicographical sorting algorithm
A sorting algorithm of computer science that does not compare elements. Instead it sorts by creating buckets and distributing elements into them by radix.
27
Kruskal's algorithm
Minimum spanning forest algorithm that greedily adds edges
An algorithm that, given an undirected graph with weighted edges, finds a minimum spanning forest; when the graph is connected, the result is a minimum spanning tree.
28
Triple DES
Block cipher
Officially the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm, a symmetric-key block cipher of cryptography that runs the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher three times on each block of data. When it was developed, DES's 56-bit key was increasingly thought too weak against new cryptanalysis techniques, and fast-growing computer performance, as Moore's law predicted, was making brute-force attacks more and more feasible.
29
Bellman–Ford algorithm
Algorithm for finding the shortest paths in graphs
An algorithm that computes the shortest paths from one source vertex to every other vertex of a weighted digraph. It is slower than Dijkstra's algorithm on the same problem, but more versatile, since it can deal with graphs where some edge weights are negative.
Wikidata · Photo: Michel Bakni, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 30
How this list was made
Every Wikidata item that is an instance of a kind of algorithm — a sort, a search, a graph algorithm, a hash, a cipher, a compression scheme or a numerical method, and that has its own English Wikipedia article, ranked by the number of Wikimedia sites with a page about it — Wikipedia's language editions, mostly, and sister projects such as Wikiquote. That counts how many communities independently thought it worth describing, and nobody can buy a place on it. The top 30 are shown.
Removed by hand
Wikidata files these under this list's query, but they are not what the list is about:
- Spanning Tree Protocol — A network protocol rather than an algorithm.
Kept by hand
These belong on the list but Wikidata does not file them where the query looks:
- Euclidean algorithm — Wikidata files it only as an algorithm in general — a class too mixed to query, which also holds Occam's razor and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
- Sieve of Eratosthenes — Wikidata files it only as an algorithm in general — a class too mixed to query, which also holds Occam's razor and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
- PageRank — Wikidata files it only as an algorithm in general — a class too mixed to query, which also holds Occam's razor and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
- Monte Carlo method — Wikidata files it only as an algorithm in general — a class too mixed to query, which also holds Occam's razor and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
- Newton's method — Wikidata files it only as an algorithm in general — a class too mixed to query, which also holds Occam's razor and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Fetched from Wikidata on 2026-09-25. Each description is this site's summary of the entry's Wikipedia article, which its name links to: the wording is ours, the facts are Wikipedia's, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. To correct an entry, correct it there; the next refresh carries the change.
More in Computer science
One practical note: staying online
If you are reading this on the way somewhere: Computatus eSIM sells prepaid data eSIMs for 190 countries, installed by QR code before you leave, so maps, tickets and messages work without a roaming bill.
See plans for the most visited destinations from $1.79
| Country | Cheapest plan | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1GB per day | $2.33 | Get it → |
| France | 2GB per day | $2.15 | Get it → |
| Italy | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| United Kingdom | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| Germany | 2GB per day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| Canada | 1GB per day | $2.47 | Get it → |
| India | 1GB per day | $3.26 | Get it → |
| Australia | 1GB per day | $1.79 | Get it → |
See all Computatus eSIM plans →
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this site. Nothing above depends on it: every entry is chosen and ranked before any price is looked up.