Thursday, May 2, 2024

If you created an algorithm, what would you call it?

 I take attendance by having the students answer a question.

If you created an algorithm, what would you call it?

Most people went for a legacy:

  • [student's own first name]sort
  • [student's own first name]algorithm
  • [student's own last name]
  • [student's own full name]3000
  • [student's last name] method
  • [student's last name]'s Algorithm
  • Make[student's first name]OnTime

Then some people went for a bizarre name:

  • golden
  • Goat
  • BifghkaJKHSTY
  • cheeseburger
  • transform 
  • apples

Then some people went for a straightforward "impossible to say what this algorithm does":

  • The Best Algorithm
  • Algorithm
  • Algo I
  • Algorithm X

My favorite was the "extremely possible to say what this algorithm does":

  • something descriptive


This post's theme word is maecenatism (n), "patronage". None of today's forward-thinking algorithm designers has favored maecenatism in their naming scheme; how is modern-day artisanal algorithm design to thrive without this historical source of support?

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