Algorithms For Dummies

6

The Part of Tens

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IN THIS PART . . .

Consider how algorithms are changing the world.

Discover the future of algorithms.

Define problems that algorithms haven’t solved.

Learn how games help people solve algorithms.

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CHAPTER 21

  Ten Algorithms That Are Changing the World 

     391

IN THIS CHAPTER

 

» Considering sort and search routines

 

» Using random numbers

 

» Making data smaller

 

» Ensuring that data remains secret, 

and more . . .

Ten Algorithms That 

Are Changing the World

I

t’s hard to imagine an algorithm doing much of anything, much less changing 

the world. However, algorithms today appear everywhere, and you might not 

even realize just how much effect they have on your life. 

Most people realize that online stores and other sales venues rely on algorithms to 

determine which add-on products to suggest based on previous purchases. How-

ever, most people are unaware of the uses of algorithms in medicine, many of 

which help a doctor decide what diagnosis to provide.

Algorithms appear in the oddest places. The timing of traffic lights often depends 

on the calculations of algorithms. Algorithms will help your smartphone talk to 

you today, and you see algorithms at work in making your television do more than 

any television has done in the past. Consequently, it’s not all that impossible to 

believe that algorithms are poised to change the world. This chapter highlights 

ten of them.

Chapter 

21

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392

 

   

  PART 6