Algorithm Design
About This Module
Prework
Prework Reading
Pre-lecture Reflections
Lecture
Learning Objectives
Big picture
Review a few approaches to algorithm design:
- Greedy approach
- Divide and conquer
Others:
- Dynamic Programming
- Branch and Bound
- Backtracking
You'll likely see these in DS320 -- Algorithms for Data Science
Why do we care about algorithm design?
- Many problems share similar structure
- Having an algorithmic approach for a certain style of problem makes things a lot easier!
- Different approaches have tradeoffs depending on what you want to prioritize
Algorithms to Live By
From book page.
A fascinating exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind.
All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar favorites is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not: computers, too, face the same constraints, so computer scientists have been grappling with their version of such problems for decades. And the solutions they’ve found have much to teach us.
In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths show how the simple, precise algorithms used by computers can also untangle very human questions. They explain how to have better hunches and when to leave things to chance, how to deal with overwhelming choices and how best to connect with others. From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one’s inbox to understanding the workings of human memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.