{{About|the method in analytic combinatorics|the method in invariant theory|Symbolic method}}
In [[combinatorics]], especially in analytic combinatorics, the '''symbolic method''' is a technique for [[enumerative combinatorics|counting combinatorial objects]]. It uses the internal structure of the objects to derive formulas for their [[generating function]]s. The method is mostly associated with [[Philippe Flajolet]] and is detailed in Part A of his book with [[Robert Sedgewick (computer scientist)|Robert Sedgewick]], ''[[Analytic Combinatorics]]'';, while the rest of the book explains how to use complex analysis in order to get asymptotic and probabilistic results on the corresponding generating functions.
During two centuries, generating functions were popping up via the corresponding recurrences on their coefficients (as can be seen in the seminal works of [[Bernoulli]], [[Leonhard Euler|Euler]], [[Arthur Cayley]], [[Ernst_Schröder|Schröder]],
