When a program attempts to search a data structure for a particular item, it uses an algorithm. An algorithm is a process, defined in code, for carrying out a specific task.

Stefanie Molin's new book, “Hands-On Data Analysis with Pandas" is about using the powerful pandas library to get started with machine learning in Python.

How do I strengthen my knowledge of data structures and algorithms? This question was originally answered on Quora by Robert Love.