Why I Am Attending the Pluralsight “Algorithms and Data Structures” Webcast
Posted by bsstahl on 2011-08-24 and Filed Under: event development
When I started at Arizona State University (ASU) about twenty-six years ago, I’d already been programming for five or six years, and building applications for a year or two. I’d done things like create hacking tools and WarGames dialers for my own use, and I’d built a few applications for businesses where I was doing lookups and filing information that was specific to that business, but all of that was very heavy on code and light on technique and reusability. I knew how to use variables and arrays, I knew how to make the computer do what I wanted it to do, but I didn’t know how to write good code. At ASU, there were two classes that I had take freshman year that were part of the Engineering & Applied Sciences core, that really woke me up to the world of Computer Science and the things that we, as engineers, can do with our code. Those classes were “Data Structures in Pascal” and “Discreet Mathematics”. These two classes are really the only classes where I have specific memories of the things I learned so long ago.
I remember, very clearly, in the data structures class, learning about linked-lists. I remember the realm of possibilities that I saw when introduced to this data structure. This really very simple data structure showed me tremendous power as a flexible, reusable foundational element, that dwarfed arrays and the other tools I knew at the time. Linked lists showed me how I could hold the same values as I held in an array with addition metadata that gave me the tools to access the values in a different way, in a way that made more sense for the use-case. I saw in these structures a tool I could use to build reusable frameworks that could operate on data in a way that was much more use-case specific. For example, I could use linked-lists to create a queue structure. Then, if the use-case dictated, I could extend that structure to hold a priority and make the queue priority based. These things, while possible just using flat arrays, were much more difficult and harder to reuse. Other structures like binary-trees had impact on me as well, but nothing like the fundamental power of the linked-list.
I remember, in the discreet math class, learning about algorithms that were, in effect, practical uses of math for programmers. Although that class was not officially geared towards programmers, it was very easy to see why it was a core requirement for the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences. I remember learning about various sorting algorithms and encryption methods, optimum path algorithms and best-fit criteria. Basically, I learned ways of applying mathematics to everyday problems I faced when writing code. As with the data structures class, my horizons were significantly expanded by this knowledge and I have used these tools, and my understanding of these tools, to some degree every day since.
For me, making the decision that I wanted to be a software engineer, as opposed to a hardware engineer, didn’t occur until after I started college. The two classes I have described, had a big impact on proving to me that my talent, and my passion, was for software and that programming was the path that I wanted to take in life.
Now, I see an opportunity, 26 years later, to refresh my memory and update my skills on some of these topics. There have been many changes in software engineering since my time in college. The .NET Framework now provides many of the foundational structures I use daily, and, with the help of generics, those structures will often work in a strongly-typed way on any data type I choose. These topics helped establish the course of my career and I am looking forward to seeing how the tools, and the use of these tools, has changed over time. While I realize that I cannot recreate the “eureka experience” of my original awakening, and that you cannot squeeze 2 full-semester classes into a 1-hour presentation, I am still very excited about attending the Pluralsight webcast on Algorithms and Data Structures tomorrow.
Barry S. Stahl (he/him/his) - Barry is a .NET Software Engineer who has been creating business solutions for enterprise customers since the mid 1980s. Barry is also an Election Integrity Activist, baseball and hockey fan, husband of one genius and father of another, and a 40 year resident of Phoenix Arizona USA. When Barry is not traveling around the world to speak at Conferences, Code Camps and User Groups or to participate in GiveCamp events, he spends his days as a Solution Architect for Carvana in Tempe AZ and his nights thinking about the next AZGiveCamp event where software creators come together to build websites and apps for some great non-profit organizations.