Amazon Algorithms Flashcards
All algorithms solve a _______.
problem
_________ are little more than a series of step by step instructions.
algorithms
The essence of a really good algorithm is _________.
mathematics
The best algorithms are those that tap into the _______ mathematical structure hiding beneath a problem.
underlying
Algorithms are extremely old; they _______ computers by thousands of years.
predate
The _____ algorithm we know of was devised to solve a mathematical problem.
oldest
The oldest algorithm we know of was first written down by the ancient Greek mathematician ____.
Euclid
Euclid’s algorithm is a method for finding the greatest common _____.
divisor
The greatest common divisor is the largest number that will divide into a pair of other numbers without leaving a _______. For ex., 4 divides in both 8 and 12 without a ______.
remainder remainder
What are the 3 criteria that all algorithms have?
a precisely stated set of instructions, a procedure that always finishes, can be proven to work in all cases of the problem its solving
An algorithm is a _______ stated set of instructions.
precisely
The procedure of an algorithm always ______.
finishes
An algorithm must be ______ to work in all cases of the problem it’s solving.
proven
________ an algorithm requires creativity and genius but using them is just a matter of following instructions.
inventing
Computer code is basically making an algorithm _______; the algorithm is the _____ for how you would solve the problem, the rough instructions that you would use, and that can be translated into particular code.
specific idea
Some of the most important algorithms are ______ algorithms.
sorting
Sorting algorithms put things in _____. For ex., on the internet information gets broken down into packets of data, which then get sent across the web. To reassemble that data, sorting algorithms are absolutely crucial to putting this data back in the ______ _____ so that we can view the picture or read the email we’ve just been sent.
order correct order
There are over __ different types of sorting algorithms (Bubble sort, Merge sort, Insertion sort, Heap sort, Quick sort, Time sort, Gnome sort, Pigeonhole sort or Radix sort, Bogosort, etc); they all achieve the same result by _________ means.
20 different
Each sorting algorithm has its ____ and ____; which one to use often depends on the ________ of the problem.
pros cons specifics
______ websites use a matching algorithm.
dating
The ______ ______ algorithm (also known as the stable marriage algorithm) is a _________ algorithm and is being used all over the world for things like matching children to day care places, or students to schools, or to allocate rabbis to synagogues.
Gayle Shapley matching
In the UK a ______ algorithm is used to match organ donors and recipients.
matching
The important features of a good algorithm is it being fast and correct; ______!
efficient
It’s a common ___________ that algorithms can do anything; some problems simply ______ be solved by efficient algorithms.
misconception cannot
There is no efficient algorithm for the ______ _______ problem yet!
traveling salesman
The traveling salesman problem applies to lots of ____; from soldering circuit boards to planning supermarket delivery routes, etc.
areas
A _______ approach to an algorithm means an algorithm that is efficient that doesn’t find the perfect solution but gets as close as it can.
heuristic
The ______ _______ algorithm uses the heuristic approach by trying to predict what order the aircraft are going to take off in; if it knows what order they can take off in, then it can work backward and say “if it needs to take off at this time, then it needs to enter the runway queue at this time, then it needs to finish its taxi at this time, therefore it needs to start its taxi operation at this time, in that case, it needs to finish its pushback at this time, so it needs to start its pushback by this time”— and it can work all the way back from what time it should take off to what time it should start pushing back.
Heathrow Sequencing
The __________ of the Heathrow Sequencing algorithm is given to air traffic control through the airport’s internal computer system, and displays to the pilot at the gate the __________ pushback time (or what time he’s expected to take off).
output recommended
The biggest benefit of the Heathrow Sequencing algorithm is that you can ____ aircraft from starting engines for _________ which saves on fuel without them taking off any later so there’s no delay for passengers.
hold longer
The Heathrow Sequencing algorithm is not finding the absolute ______ solution all the time but it makes the controllers’ jobs of launching aircraft a lot easier.
perfect
Heuristic means involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially ____________ methods.
trial-and-error
Heuristic means of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize ________________ techniques (such as the evaluation of feedback) to improve performance.
self-educating
The connect skeletal tracking algorithm at Microsoft writes itself using _______ _______; it was designed for Kinect on Xbox.
machine learning
The connect skeletal tracking algorithm was shown millions of training images of bodies in different poses and of various shapes and sizes, and from this, the algorithm essentially learned by example, devising its ___ ____.
own rules
The designers of the connect skeletal tracking algorithm didn’t program the algorithm, they designed the training ____ ___ to capture all of the kind of variations that they expected to see when the system was deployed.
data set
__________ algorithms can monitor and replenish the stock of products and ___________ customer demand.
forecasting anticipate
______ ______ algorithms can manage the traffic of more than 7000 crates in a warehouse.
control system
____ _____ algorithms can control the movement of a fleet of over 1500 vans testing over four million different route combinations every second.
van routing
