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I've spent a lot of time learning algorithms, and learning that certain ones exist, without learning their precise details (for future use). They have never got
by zasdffaa 4y ago
I've spent a lot of time learning algorithms, and learning that certain ones exist, without learning their precise details (for future use). They have never got used. Maybe I used a bloom filter once.
It's had some value in knowing when a certain algorithm is inappropriate, but otherwise it's been a massive waste. Surely things can be better than this?
Jobs bleat for "creative, intelligent people with a knowledge of algos + data structures", so why won't you use this?
- oxff 4y agoYou might not work in context where you have to recognize these patterns out in the wild and apply the knowledge. I have friends 2 decades into programming as a profession who've never implemented any of these.
- zasdffaa 4y agoThat's exactly my point. And it is, I think, a massive waste of what I (and surely many others) can do.
- vsareto 4y agoYou can do light study without having to do MIT-level exam questions (but you should still do some easy problems) and that can get you familiar enough to recognize the patterns and give you the vocabulary to google things For people uninterested in studying CS itself, this has just become a job signal to work towards.
- zasdffaa 4y agoI don't study things for the love of it (well, I suppose I do) but to apply it, for what value is a skill if not applied? I learnt these things because they should be useful. But employers would rather throw big data software stacks and a ton of expensive hardware at things rather than use brain. CS and business programming should NOT be two disjoint subjects[1]. [1] IMO