Fixed Points in Computer Science

A fixed point in computer science is a value or state that remains unchanged when a specific function or process is applied to it. Imagine a function as a machine transforming inputs into outputs; a fixed point is an input that the machine leaves unchanged. For example, if applying the function to a value produces the same value, that value is a fixed point. Fixed points are important in areas like programming language semantics, recursive functions, and computations that reach stability, helping to understand how certain processes converge or stabilize without changing further.