every so often I think about trying to explain CS topics like algorithms (I think they're fun!), but it's SO hard for me to see how they're useful in real world programming applications
for example, a couple of months ago I used an algorithm (backtracking) that I learned in my "intro to CS" class in university for the first time. I took that class 17 years ago.
"here, learn this, maybe it will be useful in 17 years" doesn't feel that exciting to me
(please no comments about coding interviews)
Julia Evans /
npub1ym…nlm9y
2024-03-16 13:01:46
Author Public Key
npub1ym9ddu2qh7rda8pxklq4gxw2kxhtm4cgvdvdy64z6agwy88nhuhqcnlm9yPublished at
2024-03-16 13:01:46Event JSON
{
"id": "28320af858bde44244a71fab286378f3f4dfbcbbe4008e84af827e8948c574b8",
"pubkey": "26cad6f140bf86de9c26b7c15419cab1aebdd7086358d26aa2d750e21cf3bf2e",
"created_at": 1710594106,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://social.jvns.ca/users/b0rk/statuses/112105495337849602",
"activitypub"
]
],
"content": "every so often I think about trying to explain CS topics like algorithms (I think they're fun!), but it's SO hard for me to see how they're useful in real world programming applications\n\nfor example, a couple of months ago I used an algorithm (backtracking) that I learned in my \"intro to CS\" class in university for the first time. I took that class 17 years ago.\n\n\"here, learn this, maybe it will be useful in 17 years\" doesn't feel that exciting to me\n\n(please no comments about coding interviews)",
"sig": "b76cae76de5037279b82b669be0deada035433b683f50362b9d612984ffd59cee0885fcb396b62b90c38899e04c685d014e4518b84598284d87131e79ee323d9"
}