<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
an	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
is	O
an	O
algorithm	O
that	O
can	O
return	O
a	O
valid	O
solution	O
to	O
a	O
problem	O
even	O
if	O
it	O
is	O
interrupted	O
before	O
it	O
ends	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
,	O
however	O
,	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
return	O
a	O
partial	O
answer	O
,	O
whose	O
quality	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
computation	O
they	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
perform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
answer	O
generated	O
by	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
is	O
an	O
approximation	O
of	O
the	O
correct	O
answer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
may	O
be	O
also	O
called	O
an	O
"	O
interruptible	O
algorithm	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
different	O
from	O
contract	O
algorithms	O
,	O
which	O
must	O
declare	O
a	O
time	O
in	O
advance	O
;	O
in	O
an	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
,	O
a	O
process	O
can	O
just	O
announce	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
terminating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
of	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
are	O
to	O
give	O
intelligent	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
the	O
ability	O
to	O
make	O
results	O
of	O
better	O
quality	O
in	O
return	O
for	O
turn-around	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
important	O
because	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
or	O
AI	B-Application
algorithms	O
can	O
take	O
a	O
long	O
time	O
to	O
complete	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
example	O
that	O
uses	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
is	O
trajectory	O
problems	O
when	O
you	O
're	O
aiming	O
for	O
a	O
target	O
;	O
the	O
object	O
is	O
moving	O
through	O
space	O
while	O
waiting	O
for	O
the	O
algorithm	O
to	O
finish	O
and	O
even	O
an	O
approximate	O
answer	O
can	O
significantly	O
improve	O
its	O
accuracy	O
if	O
given	O
early	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
makes	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
unique	O
is	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
return	O
many	O
possible	O
outcomes	O
for	O
any	O
given	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
uses	O
many	O
well	O
defined	O
quality	O
measures	O
to	O
monitor	O
progress	O
in	O
problem	O
solving	O
and	O
distributed	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
may	O
sound	O
similar	O
to	O
dynamic	B-Algorithm
programming	I-Algorithm
,	O
the	O
difference	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
fine-tuned	O
through	O
random	O
adjustments	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
sequential	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
are	O
designed	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
told	O
to	O
stop	O
at	O
any	O
time	O
and	O
would	O
return	O
the	O
best	O
result	O
it	O
has	O
found	O
so	O
far	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Certain	O
anytime	B-Algorithm
algorithms	I-Algorithm
also	O
maintain	O
the	O
last	O
result	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
given	O
more	O
time	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
continue	O
from	O
where	O
they	O
left	O
off	O
to	O
obtain	O
an	O
even	O
better	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
traveling	B-Algorithm
salesman	I-Algorithm
problem	I-Algorithm
,	O
the	O
performance	O
profile	O
was	O
generated	O
using	O
a	O
user-defined	O
special	O
program	O
to	O
generate	O
the	O
necessary	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Does	O
it	O
change	O
constantly	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
in	O
a	O
bubble	B-Algorithm
sort	I-Algorithm
or	O
does	O
it	O
change	O
unpredictably	O
?	O
</s>
