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This is most likely the correct answer. I doubt there is a single piece of code or algorithm that controls all of twitter. From my limited perspective it's just
by bastardoperator 5y ago
This is most likely the correct answer. I doubt there is a single piece of code or algorithm that controls all of twitter. From my limited perspective it's just a catch phrase to simplify what is likely tens of thousands of lines of code.
- andrewmcwatters 5y agoWell, that's an algorithm. If you have to draw a diagram showing how edge cache nodes affect a user's results based on whether or not they signed in from New York or Phoenix, or if the downtime of a cluster affects the relevance rankings of tweets for a photography enthusiast, then guess what... That's an algorithm.
- bastardoperator 5y agoI don't disagree, I might even argue that twitter is comprised of many algorithms. We can argue all software is algorithms, or we can just call it software.
- andrewmcwatters 5y agoThat just moves the terminology around and doesn't answer people's questions. Everyone would simply start asking, "what software or lines of code directly affect my timeline?" The "timeline algorithm" is a perfectly normal way to describe what people ask about.
- TimTheTinker 5y agoThis shouldn't be downvoted. Any black box with inputs and outputs is a function over discrete data, otherwise known as an algorithm.
- samhw 5y ago> a function over discrete data, otherwise known as an algorithm 'A function over discrete data' is a far broader concept / far larger set than 'an algorithm'.
- mhh__ 5y agoYes it's an algorithm, but as software engineers we shouldn't pander to people who actually think there is a small flow chart dictating what happens in your search results. It's idiotic or dishonest.
- donatj 5y agoI mean I'm sure Google has somewhere a UML chart of the entire process of ordering results. Your insistence otherwise is disingenuous at best, either that or you've never actually worked on any sort of major software, at least with any level of reliability/dependability.
- mhh__ 5y agoSure they have a chart but it's not "if !idpol -> make woke instead". The level of discourse I'm trying to convey like what we saw in the Zuck/Pichai hearings in Congress. No understanding of the domain at all. You or I know how software actually works, your average politician or man on the street does not.
- fmobus 5y ago> I mean I'm sure Google has somewhere a UML chart of the entire process of ordering results. No, there isn't.
- bee_rider 5y agoI think it is unfortunate that "the algorithm" has become the popularized phrase for the thing, though. Yes, clearly an algorithm which evaluates the entire state of the universe and uses that as an input is still an algorithm. But it is also clearly not what people are looking for. I'm pretty sure people expect to be able look at The Algorithm and find the part that is trying to destroy <whatever their hobby-horse is>. I bet whatever we see will lean more toward "big dumb pile of A/B tests."