3 ms·

Not directly, but the problems and engineering that go into building one are very similar. Qubits are analogous to regular bits, at least on 'measure'. They're

Not directly, but the problems and engineering that go into building one are very similar. Qubits are analogous to regular bits, at least on 'measure'. They're either in 1 state or another, and all the interesting stuff is in how you get to that state. Source: building a quantum computer.

Robotbeat 6y ago
Yes, that’s my point! The person I’m responding to is saying they’re like analog computers, which don’t use bits. Quantum computers are a bit more like digital computers.
- packetlost 6y ago
  I am the person who said that :) I guess what I really meant was I agree with your original statement. They're closer to analog computers than digital, but really they're neither and share some similarities of both. In the sense that the qubits usually only have 2 measurable states in computation, they're similar to digital computers, but that only goes for when you measure. On the other side, the 'programs' going in are not really digital information (though they can be represented as such), and because qubits are not only in one of 2 states (unlike bits) the way in which you interact/program them is definitely not digital, it is analog. If you're interested in learning about writing quantum programs, I recommend checking out IBM's Qiskit toolkit[0]. I found the tutorials to be helpful for helping grasp the fundamentals of quantum programming. [0]: https://qiskit.org/documentation/getting_started.html https://qiskit.org/documentation/getting_started.html
  - M277 6y ago
    Off-topic, very sorry: Are there any resources you particularly recommend if I wanted to learn more about quantum computing and how quantum computers work on the hardware level?
    - IlliOnato 6y ago
      Perhaps not exactly what you ask for, i.e. not that much on hardware/engineering, rather on physics and mathematics the quantum computing is built on: https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aaronson/dp/0521199565 https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aa...
      - M277 6y ago
        It does look like an interesting read. Thank you :)

Robotbeat 6y ago

Yes, that’s my point! The person I’m responding to is saying they’re like analog computers, which don’t use bits. Quantum computers are a bit more like digital computers.

packetlost 6y ago
I am the person who said that :) I guess what I really meant was I agree with your original statement. They're closer to analog computers than digital, but really they're neither and share some similarities of both. In the sense that the qubits usually only have 2 measurable states in computation, they're similar to digital computers, but that only goes for when you measure. On the other side, the 'programs' going in are not really digital information (though they can be represented as such), and because qubits are not only in one of 2 states (unlike bits) the way in which you interact/program them is definitely not digital, it is analog. If you're interested in learning about writing quantum programs, I recommend checking out IBM's Qiskit toolkit[0]. I found the tutorials to be helpful for helping grasp the fundamentals of quantum programming. [0]: https://qiskit.org/documentation/getting_started.html https://qiskit.org/documentation/getting_started.html
- M277 6y ago
  Off-topic, very sorry: Are there any resources you particularly recommend if I wanted to learn more about quantum computing and how quantum computers work on the hardware level?
  - IlliOnato 6y ago
    Perhaps not exactly what you ask for, i.e. not that much on hardware/engineering, rather on physics and mathematics the quantum computing is built on: https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aaronson/dp/0521199565 https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aa...
    - M277 6y ago
      It does look like an interesting read. Thank you :)