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How much value is there in reading without completing exercises? I find that, for myself, knowledge gained through hands-off reading is very shallow and difficu
by sempron64 9y ago
How much value is there in reading without completing exercises? I find that, for myself, knowledge gained through hands-off reading is very shallow and difficult to apply. On the other hand knowledge I've applied hands on has been vastly valuable. One recent example that springs to mind is kmv data sketches. I understood their theory and the algorithm's details but the (simple) concept and it's cases of applicability did not really click for me until I wrote one for use in an application on someone else's recommendation. I spent the next week gushing about my revelation, to my colleagues' annoyance.
- Exuma 9y agoWhat is a KMV data sketch, the more detail the better - sounds fascinating
- __float 9y agoOne of the ways we count distinct elements in an unknown amount of data--probabilistically! You may have heard of Bloom filters and the like, and this is a similar family of algorithms. https://research.neustar.biz/2012/07/09/sketch-of-the-day-k-minimum-values/ https://research.neustar.biz/2012/07/09/sketch-of-the-day-k-...
- Exuma 9y agoOh that makes sense, bloom filters are super fun
- bringtheaction 9y agoI find a combination useful. The things I read without doing exercises gives shallow knowledge indeed, but that shallow knowledge lets me know what I must learn about later when I need it. Also shallow knowledge is easier to obtain, so I can spend time on getting shallow knowledge that would not have been time I could use for real learning because there the limit to how much real learning can be absorbed during say a day is lower than the amount of time available in a day IMO.