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I think it's interesting that we seem to equate CS Theory being hard with involving sophisticated math. Are there any examples of concepts in Theory that are co
by kaymanb 5y ago
I think it's interesting that we seem to equate CS Theory being hard with involving sophisticated math. Are there any examples of concepts in Theory that are considered hard, but not because of their dependence on math?
The article seems to focus on complexity theory, but I couldn't think of any from that sub-field. My first thought is the Paxos algorithm for distributed consensus [1], which definitely has a reputation of being difficult to understand, and fits under the Theory umbrella.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paxos_(computer_science) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paxos_(computer_science)
- lanstin 5y agoYeah I think a model of computation set in Minkowski space time is novel compared to classic theory of computation, which is sort of set in Plato land.
- titanomachy 5y agoI wonder if Paxos is actually considered hard to understand by academic computer scientists, or if it just happens to be harder than most of the algorithms that practicing software engineers regularly try to understand. Disclaimer: I'm a software engineer who doesn't understand Paxos.