Software Algorithm

We've done a t-shirt for creating software algorithms. When creating algorithms we often feel as mad scientists. We try to build something that is machine wise efficient. Ideally an algorithm that runs in n time and occupies n space. But you know don't get too hard on yourself if it is n*n time. Same as with any kind of code, the best way is to have something working, then do small, iterative improvements. This skill is often tested in technical interviews, there are also countless platforms which automate that kind of testing. At the end of the day it is a skill that is cherished and can always be improved with practice.
We hope that you'll enjoy our illustrated developer tee of a mad scientist creating algorithm 😛

Software algorithms origins

The concept of algorithms has existed since antic times. Pretty much at the same time math was "invented" people started to wonder how can we do some sort of calculations. These days, even though we are inventing and discovering more algorithms each day, we are mostly using algorithms that were invented even before computers became a thing, or as the matter of fact before first computer was even invented. These days there is countless more resources, and multiples of people working on improving various algorithms. Besides doing concrete implementations on different fields. Such as machine learning on plants identifications, all the way to advanced stock market oracles. We as humanity are investing heavily in solving some of the millennial problems. We are also investing heavily in teaching non mathematicians about most famous and efficient algoirthms such as quick sort or similar. We have countless of testing grounds or if you want to call them algorithms playgrounds such as leetcode or hackerrank which publish time limited competitions requiring algorithmic problem solving skills.

Did you know

Hackerrank was founded in 2012, it was the first Indian company that got enrolled into Y combinator.

About T-shirt design

With this t-shirt we've went with mad scientist as our hero. It perfectly describes the way software engineers feel when trying to design and build an efficient algorithm. The team is set in steampunk because jobs that require high quality algorithmic skills often require and expect gentleman's behaviour. You know the kind you usually see in steampunk characters. The explosion in the center symbolizes our thinking. Most of the time you think about some complex algorithm and then suddenly, as if some kind of explosion happens in your brain, everything falls into the place and what you want to do appears clear and easy. Just a matter of writing it down in the form of code.

Software algorithms for non techies

Software algorithms are closely tied to math and to logical thinkings. Writing a complex algorithm is similar to solving a complex math equation. There are a lot of common and standardised way of doing things but most often you need to adapt a certain algorithm to your needs. They can be written in almost any programming language. More often than not, a concrete programming language will come with predefined algorithms implementations as part of some standard library. Algorithms are all about doing a certain thing, machine resources efficiently. There can exist multiple algorithms that provide the same solution. But important difference being how much compute time and compute space they consume. Some of them are so famous and so long lasting that there is a $1,000,000 prize ensured for a person that manages to solve it. Like this one, a traveling salesman problem, or another version of it, organising household accommodation for students algorithm/math problem.