Rethinking Algorithms

January 24th, 2006

Throughout the readings this week in Programming A-Z, I’m reminded of some of my winter break reading. Specifically, the distinction between an alrorithm and a heuristic. In my attempt to understand some of Mac Low’s work, I began to see the distinction between input and output.

Input is an algorithm. People may optimize it, but it is a clear and consice problem which an algorithm can get right every time. Read the file size, allocate space, copy that information into that space, and package that space in a way that is easily useable.

Output on the other hand, I find to be more heuristical in nature. What we as programmers, and/or the computers we use decide to do with the text is not steadfast and the same every time. What makes programming valuable is the ability to do tasks that are outside of time and space for a normal human being, and furthermore, the ability to do something we as humans would not be able to do without it. Approaching these challenges as a heuristic allows us the freedom to know we aren’t creating a perfect system, but rather a nuanced system that will render interesting and thought provoking results.

As for this week’s exploration of text, I chose to make a simple aggregator that collects all of the words from an input source of a certain size, and outputs that for interpretation. The results are a bit quirky, but bring up interesting issues. The bigger the word you search for, the more often that word is of higher vocabulary, bringing class systems to mind as well as other nuances. The smaller the text, the more that remains, therefore arguably, the more understandable the text is.

Source is here.
Example with three letter words aggregated here.

Entry Filed under: Concepts and Thoughts, Class: Programming A - Z