In its simplest form a spline function (of degree n), s(x), is a piecewise polynomial on [x1,xN] that is (n– 1) times continuously differentiable, i.e.
These polynomial ‘pieces’ are all matched up at points (called
knots):
in the interior of the range, so that the resulting function
s(
x) is smooth. The idea can be extended to functions of more than one variable.
Cubic splines—spline curves of degree 3—provide a useful means of approximating data to moderate accuracy. Splines are often the underlying approximations used in variational methods.
See also B-spline.