What do you mean by minterm and maxterm? What is the use of a Karnaugh map?

Minterms are product terms representing all possible combinations of input variables in a Boolean function where each variable appears once, either complemented or uncomplemented. Maxterms are sum terms representing the same combinations, but using the complemented variable where the minterm uses the uncomplemented one, and vice-versa.

A Karnaugh map (K-map) is a graphical method used to simplify Boolean algebra expressions. It visually groups together minterms (or maxterms) to minimize the number of literals in the simplified expression, making it easier to implement with logic gates.