The FFT: an algorithm the whole family can use

The fast Fourier transform is one of the fundamental algorithm families in digital information processing. The author discusses its past, present, and future, along with its important role in our current digital revolution. It is concluded that the FFT is both parent and child of the digital revolution, a computational technique at the nexus of the worlds of business and entertainment, national security and public communication. Although it is anyone´s guess as to what lies over the next horizon in digital signal processing, the FFT will most likely be in the thick of it