Determination

Determinism (from Lat. determinans — determinant) — certainty.

Determinism may imply definability for a particular algorithm. The rigid determinism of processes in the world means that each consequence has a strictly defined cause. In this sense, determinism is the antonym of randomness.

But determinism does not always equal predestination. For example, there may be determinism by the future, when the subject assumes that the goals for the future determine his behavior in the present.

Determinism in solving a practical problem or in an algorithm means that the method of solving the problem is uniquely defined in the form of a sequence of steps. No ambiguities or omissions are allowed on any of them.

When applying an algorithm to the same source data, the same result should always be obtained, therefore, for example, the process of information transformation, in which a coin toss is involved, is not deterministic and cannot be called an algorithm.