Heuristic (computer science)

A heuristic in computer science is like a trick that helps the computer solve problems faster. It's kind of like a shortcut your brain takes when you're trying to figure something out quickly.

Imagine you are playing a game where you have to guess a number between 1 and 100. Instead of guessing randomly, you start by guessing 50. If the answer is higher, you halve the remaining range, and guess 75. If the answer is lower, you halve the remaining range, and guess 25. You keep doing this until you find the correct number. This guessing strategy is called a heuristic because it helps you solve the problem faster.

Similarly, in computer science, a heuristic is a method that is designed to quickly find a solution to a problem that might otherwise take a long time to solve. For example, a search algorithm might use a heuristic to guide its search through a large number of possible options, by choosing the option that seems most likely to lead to the solution.

Heuristics are often used in artificial intelligence and machine learning, where they can help computers learn and adapt to new data more quickly. Overall, heuristics are like little tricks that help computers think more efficiently, and find solutions more easily.