Sequence

The sequential execution of the steps of an algorithm is denoted by placing a semicolon between them.


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These are the names of three abstract algorithms to be executed one after the other. The semicolon is a <#1461#>separator<#1461#> between them (not a terminator), and can be read as ``and then''.

We call such a sequence a <#1462#>paragraph<#1462#>, and its constituents <#1463#>units<#1463#>. The example paragraph above contains 3 such units and its execution consists of the execution, in that order, of the three units. In this way the <#1464#>effect<#1464#> of the paragraph is the composition of the effects of its units. The <#1465#>value<#1465#> of a paragraph (if any) is the value of its last unit.