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What is it about bloom filters that makes people want to explain them to others? I think I’ve seen more blog posts about them than any other cs topic, with the

What is it about bloom filters that makes people want to explain them to others? I think I’ve seen more blog posts about them than any other cs topic, with the possible exception of monads.

llaolleh 6y ago
That was what was going through my mind too! What makes it so fascinating compared to other beautiful structures?
- Marazan 6y ago
  They are easy to explain.
- joshlemer 6y ago
  What other beautiful structures come to mind for you?
polyrand 6y ago
Hi, author here! I think you're absolutely right. In my case, I found them a beautiful data structure that is simple to understand but very useful. I also draw the images for learning myself about a topic, maybe others find the format useful, so I have started sharing them. But yes, I have definitely planned to draw/explain other data structures and computer science concepts. I did bloom filters now because I'm exploring concepts related to hashing and cryptography.
- bradleyjg 6y ago
  Hi there! Not a criticism, I appreciate that you are putting out educational content. Rather, it was a genuine question. If you’re exploring cryptography, I highly recommend looking into Shamir’s secret sharing algorithm. It’s very elegant and doesn’t require much in the way of higher math to understand.
  - polyrand 6y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion! I had never heard about it, but like you said, it looks like an elegant, "simple" and useful algorithm. I'll definitely look into it!
  - victor106 6y ago
    https://github.com/codahale/shamir https://github.com/codahale/shamir A beautiful Beautiful algorithm
boyter 6y ago
Because despite all the posts a lot of people still don’t get how they work. I did a brown bag where I work recently when I walked though how to implement one and was approached after by some of the smartest engineers I know saying thank you I think I finally get it.
throw14082020 6y ago
If they were called Leaky HashSets/ leaky dictionaries i don't think it would be as popular. Monads and bloom filters both have names that don't help the meaning.
einpoklum 6y ago
Maybe the fact that they seem to be massively under-utilized, compared to hash tables? Despite being not much more complicated than hash tables? Also, you don't seem to have them available in popular container or general-purpose libraries.

What is it about bloom filters that makes people want to explain them to others? I think I’ve seen more blog posts about them than any other cs topic, with the possible exception of monads.

llaolleh 6y ago

That was what was going through my mind too! What makes it so fascinating compared to other beautiful structures?

Marazan 6y ago
They are easy to explain.
joshlemer 6y ago
What other beautiful structures come to mind for you?

polyrand 6y ago

Hi, author here! I think you're absolutely right. In my case, I found them a beautiful data structure that is simple to understand but very useful. I also draw the images for learning myself about a topic, maybe others find the format useful, so I have started sharing them. But yes, I have definitely planned to draw/explain other data structures and computer science concepts. I did bloom filters now because I'm exploring concepts related to hashing and cryptography.

bradleyjg 6y ago
Hi there! Not a criticism, I appreciate that you are putting out educational content. Rather, it was a genuine question. If you’re exploring cryptography, I highly recommend looking into Shamir’s secret sharing algorithm. It’s very elegant and doesn’t require much in the way of higher math to understand.
- polyrand 6y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion! I had never heard about it, but like you said, it looks like an elegant, "simple" and useful algorithm. I'll definitely look into it!
- victor106 6y ago
  https://github.com/codahale/shamir https://github.com/codahale/shamir A beautiful Beautiful algorithm

boyter 6y ago

Because despite all the posts a lot of people still don’t get how they work. I did a brown bag where I work recently when I walked though how to implement one and was approached after by some of the smartest engineers I know saying thank you I think I finally get it.

throw14082020 6y ago

If they were called Leaky HashSets/ leaky dictionaries i don't think it would be as popular. Monads and bloom filters both have names that don't help the meaning.

einpoklum 6y ago

Maybe the fact that they seem to be massively under-utilized, compared to hash tables? Despite being not much more complicated than hash tables? Also, you don't seem to have them available in popular container or general-purpose libraries.