Introduction to Algorithms (2020) • Hacker News Board

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#31

Post by barry-cotter » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:42 PM UTC

chirau wrote: post #4

I have always wondered if there would be value in a certification or course track in just Algorithms and Algorithm Design. It's such an intricate but very important field that it can have its own curriculum and be separated from CS. Well, not necessarily separated, but can be considered independently of other CS fields even though it is still part of a CS degree. There are tons of applications of competency with Algo…

https://www.edx.org/micromasters/ucsandiegox-algorithms-and-...

> The University of California, San Diego MicroMasters® Program in Algorithms and Data Structures

> What you will learn

> Understand essential algorithmic techniques and apply them to solve algorithmic problems

> Implement programs that work in less than one second even on massive datasets

> Test and debug your code even without knowing the input on which it fails

> Formulate real life computational problems as rigorous algorithmic problems

> Prove correctness of an algorithm and analyze its running time

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#32

Post by oxff » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:52 PM UTC

debanjan16 wrote: post #28

oxff wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I basically followed this: http://coursecatalog.web.cmu.edu/schools-colleges/schoolofco... - but "took" more courses than necessary for my self-learning (I think I read through all of Logic / Language courses, insanely fascinating topic). - I would not recommend a self-learner to follow it rigorously. Like if you are a working programmer, look for material that will help you at your work. Idea is to apply the knowled…

CMU courses doesn't have videos, atleast for most of the core courses. Was that a hurdle to your learning?

No, because I dislike videos as a source of information. They usually have absolute top tier lecture notes freely available. Like the Constructive Logic course.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#33

Post by oxff » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 12:55 PM UTC

kaba0 wrote: post #22

oxff wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not possible and I didn't mean to imply that. There'll be endless prereqs. most of the time. Just that if you need to understand differential equations, and you don't know calculus, the answer in this context isn't reading Spivak from start to finish (here I am assuming a working programmer / self-learner that wants to apply the knowledge - constrained by time and application much more heavily than a student of…

Could you please expand on what you mean by applying knowledge? But sure, I don’t believe reading a book from cover to cover is necessary in most cases, and I seldom do so with scientific books.

I firmly believe you need a software problem / idea to go with your learning. When you run into problems fixing / making what you want, search for what might help you.

Like most algorithm courses are fairly abstract form of programming (writing a line of code) where as a working programmer is a software engineer constrained by time and resources. This means that for example this algorithm course, it teaches you to generalize your solutions but that's not always realistic goal, or even desirable goal, in software engineering, and you might find out this if you implement one of the algorithms to do something for you in a small program.

Applying what you've learned in some software project of yours constraints you nicely such that you can't waste your time reading stuff from cover to cover.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#34

Post by tester756 » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:02 PM UTC

What does "proficiency in algorithms"? mean? that's general question

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#35

Post by vsareto » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:17 PM UTC

zasdffaa wrote: post #9

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…

You 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.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#36

Post by danielvaughn » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:32 PM UTC

_ceuz wrote: post #16

oxff wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pick a major from MIT and see their degree program to form a basic knowledge graph of the major This was exactly how I taught myself, but I used CMU as my guide, lol. It is not hard to find good quality material, many universities have them open, but this curriculum is hard to 'graph' when you don't know where to start and what is an actual logical way to organize it. So yeah, do this if you are a self-learner.

While good materials are easy to find, it'd be much easier if all assignments and solutions were available the way they are in this MIT course. I find a lot of value in verifying my solutions, or comparing to other valid solutions. Cheating is a major problem, but I think the benefits (at least societally) would greatly outweigh the costs. I know sometimes courses don't change enough to make releasing solutions to as…

I'd love to see a site that aggregates all of this content into an easily explorable format.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#37

Post by frognumber » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:40 PM UTC

danielvaughn wrote: post #36

_ceuz wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While good materials are easy to find, it'd be much easier if all assignments and solutions were available the way they are in this MIT course. I find a lot of value in verifying my solutions, or comparing to other valid solutions. Cheating is a major problem, but I think the benefits (at least societally) would greatly outweigh the costs. I know sometimes courses don't change enough to make releasing solutions to as…

I'd love to see a site that aggregates all of this content into an easily explorable format.

I made one once! That's a story for another time, but lessons learned:

- Elite schools like MIT are cesspools of crime and corruption, at least at the top. By "crime," I don't mean metaphorical "bad stuff" -- I mean actual, genuine, bona fide scary stuff like the movies. MIT's endowment is $20M per faculty member, and if you're in control of $20B in endowment with that much slush and that little oversight, it draws the wrong people.

- Don't accept money from elite schools. You're gonna get drawn into deeper shit than you want to know about.

- Less elite schools are more honest.

- If you do get in too deep, sign an NDA and non-disparage, and make sure you're connected to powerful friends. The calculus was: (1) if bad stuff happens to me, they hit front page of NY Times (powerful friends) (2) If we're both left in peace, I'm signalling I'm probably not going to expose them (NDA+non-disparage).

What I found is that there's much better content overall one tier down, although without MIT's PR budget. You gotta know where and how to find it. If all of that were aggregate, that'd be golden.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#38

Post by debanjan16 » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:58 PM UTC

frognumber wrote: post #37

danielvaughn wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see a site that aggregates all of this content into an easily explorable format.

I made one once! That's a story for another time, but lessons learned: - Elite schools like MIT are cesspools of crime and corruption, at least at the top. By "crime," I don't mean metaphorical "bad stuff" -- I mean actual, genuine, bona fide scary stuff like the movies. MIT's endowment is $20M per faculty member, and if you're in control of $20B in endowment with that much slush and that little oversight, it draws t…

>What I found is that there's much better content overall one tier down

Which school's content are you talking about?

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#39

Post by debanjan16 » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

oxff wrote: post #32

debanjan16 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CMU courses doesn't have videos, atleast for most of the core courses. Was that a hurdle to your learning?

No, because I dislike videos as a source of information. They usually have absolute top tier lecture notes freely available. Like the Constructive Logic course.

Yes, even for their intro course 15-122 the course notes are excellent.

Re: Introduction to Algorithms (2020)

#40

Post by itchyjunk » Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

marginalia_nu wrote: post #15

obilgic wrote: post #2

Here is my latest life hack that I have been using. Pick a major from MIT and see their degree program to form a basic knowledge graph of the major. Find them on https://ocw.mit.edu/ and study yourself. Usually, taking 1-2 classes gives you a great insight in to any topic so that you can at least collaborate better with the experts of those topics in a team environment.

I'm having the weirdest deja-vu right now. Turns out I did see a thread almost like this, with a top comment almost like this a week ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32793139 Felt like I was going insane.

Good memory. I wonder how often things like this happen. hmm