Editing 1667: Algorithms
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'''{{w|Git (software)|Git}}''' is a {{w|version control}} program, i.e., software that allows multiple people to work on the same files at the same time. When someone finalizes ("commits") their changes, the version control program needs to join the new content with the existing content. When more than one person has made overlapping changes at the same time, the process of figuring out how to join them is called '''{{w|Merge (version control)|merging}}''', and the algorithm for it is anything but simple. | '''{{w|Git (software)|Git}}''' is a {{w|version control}} program, i.e., software that allows multiple people to work on the same files at the same time. When someone finalizes ("commits") their changes, the version control program needs to join the new content with the existing content. When more than one person has made overlapping changes at the same time, the process of figuring out how to join them is called '''{{w|Merge (version control)|merging}}''', and the algorithm for it is anything but simple. | ||
β | A '''{{w|self-driving car}}''' is an automobile with sensors and software built into it so that it can maneuver in traffic autonomously, i.e. without a human controller. | + | A '''{{w|self-driving car}}''' is an automobile with sensors and software built into it so that it can maneuver in traffic autonomously, i.e. without a human controller. Various companies have been working on such vehicles for many years now, and while they're further along now than would have been imaginable even a couple of years ago, we're still far away from the dream of hopping in a driver-less taxi and sitting back as the car itself navigates to where we want to be. Recently [[Randall]] has made several references to self-driving cars which has become a [[:Category:Self-driving cars|recurring topic]] on xkcd. |
The '''{{w|Google Search}} backend''' is what enables you to type "what the heck is a leftpad algorithm" into your browser and have Google return a list of relevant results, including correcting "leftpad" to "left-pad", truncating "what the heck is" to simply "what is", and sometimes even summarizing the findings into a box at the top of the results. Behind all that magic is a way to remember what pages the Internet contains, which is just a mind-bogglingly large quantity of data, and an even more [[1605: DNA|mind-numbingly complex]] set of algorithms for processing that data. | The '''{{w|Google Search}} backend''' is what enables you to type "what the heck is a leftpad algorithm" into your browser and have Google return a list of relevant results, including correcting "leftpad" to "left-pad", truncating "what the heck is" to simply "what is", and sometimes even summarizing the findings into a box at the top of the results. Behind all that magic is a way to remember what pages the Internet contains, which is just a mind-bogglingly large quantity of data, and an even more [[1605: DNA|mind-numbingly complex]] set of algorithms for processing that data. |