The standardized way of defining what a universal quantum computer is through the DiVicenzo criteria [1]. Quantum annealing is a bridge until we have universa

The standardized way of defining what a universal quantum computer is through the DiVicenzo criteria [1]. Quantum annealing is a bridge until we have universal QC, it’s a fairly decent one for optimization problems where the solution set is discrete. I personally think D-wave is a good place to start to wrap ones’ mind around QC and superposition states. IBM Q is great, too. In many ways, I prefer IBM Q if you are getting into QC for the long haul because many QC concepts such as CNOT, Z, X, Hadamard gates, interaction between quantum registers and classic registers are explicit. D-wave’s API hides quite a bit of what QC is all about, and you have to fit your problem (it has to be adiabatic in nature) into their system. I find this to be rather confusing in the long run. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiVincenzo%27s_criteria https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiVincenzo%27s_criteria