The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is a mathematical technique used to analyze the frequency components of a sequence of numbers, often representing signals. By transforming a time-domain signal into its frequency-domain representation, the DFT helps us understand how much of each frequency is present in the original signal. This is particularly useful in fields like signal processing and audio analysis. The DFT takes a finite number of samples and converts them into a sum of sinusoids, allowing us to see the underlying patterns in the data. It is commonly implemented using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm, which makes the computation much faster and more efficient, especially for large datasets.