A heuristic or heuristic technique (problem solving, mental shortcut, rule of thumb) is any approach to problem solving that employs a pragmatic method that is not fully optimized, perfected, or rationalized, but is nevertheless "good enough" as an approximation or attribute substitution. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
A simplified analysis method which may not give entirely accurate answers but which is sufficient to guide design decisions. In computer science, artificial intelligence, and mathematical optimization, a heuristic (from Greek εὑρίσκω “I find, discover”) is a technique designed for solving a problem more quickly when classic methods are too slow, or for finding an approximate solution when classic methods fail to find any exact solution.
L'heuristique ou euristique (du grec ancien εὑρίσκω, heuriskô, « je trouve ») est « l'art d'inventer, de faire des découvertes » en résolvant des problèmes à partir de connaissances incomplètes. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)