The Algorithm Experience

Computational efficiency lies at the heart of the research area of algorithm design. As we explain in every single paper, it is of vital importance, since data sets are growing ever larger, and advancing hardware cannot compete with the pitiless mathematics of asymptotic behaviour. The same growth in both data size and computation speed is also making the notion of efficiency more abstract, and more difficult to explain to inhabitants of a world in which instant computation is the norm. We introduce the em algorithm experience as a way for students of algorithms, or anybody, to get a feeling for the notion of computational efficiency by em experiencing it first-hand. Essentially, the idea is simple: execute multiple algorithms that achieve the same result, by hand, on the same small input. By doing so, and assuming you make no mistakes, you will notice that one can get to the same results in different ways, and that some take longer than others. In addition, you may feel that some algorithms contain a lot of unnecessary repetition.