Off the Shelf Fancy Math
July 17, 2020
Did you wish you were in the Student Union instead of the engineering lab? Did you long for hanging out with your besties instead of sitting in the library trying to get some answer, any answer to a differential equation? Answer “yes” to either question, and you will enjoy “Algorithms Are Now Commodities.” The write up states:
Algorithms are now like the bolts in a bridge: very important, but nobody talks about them. Today developers talk about story points, features, business logic, etc. Given a well-defined problem, many are now likely to search for an existing package, rather than write code from scratch (I certainly work this way). New algorithms are still being invented, and researchers continue to look for improvements to existing algorithms. This is a niche activity. There are companies where algorithms are not commodities.
The author points out:
Algorithms have not yet completed their journey to obscurity, which has to wait until people can tell computers what they want and not be concerned about the implementation details (or genetic algorithm programming gets a lot better).
With productized code modules proliferating like Star Trek’s Tribbles, math is on the way to the happy condition of a mouse click.
One commenter pointed out:
This is as misguided as a chef claiming recipes are now commodities, and the common chef need not be familiar with any. As with cooking, any organized programming of a machine necessarily involves algorithms, although lesser programmers won’t notice them.—Verisimilitude
This individual then pointed out:
The ‘chefs’ in most restaurants heat precooked components of a meal and combine them on the plate. Progress requires being able to treat what used to be important as commonplace.
An interesting topic. Amazon among others is pushing hard to the “off the shelf” and “ready to consume” approach to a number of computer centric functions.
Push the wrong button, then what? An opportunity to push another button and pay again. Iteration is the name of the game, not figuring out mere exercise problems.
Stephen E Arnold, July 16, 2020
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