Do you really know what an algorithm is? | TOACP Visualized | Lesson 1

A visual explanation of the mathematical definition of an algorithm inspired by the book series "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald Knuth.

Timestamps:
0:00 0. Motivation
1:05 1. High-level Overview
3:23 2. Implementation
6:11 3.1 States
7:46 3.2 State Transitions
9:36 4. A Side Note
10:38 5. Defining The Transition Function
14:10 Summary

------------------

These animations are largely made using a custom python library, manim.

Music by Vindsvept, fantasy music

Image of Donald Knuth in thumbnail:

------------------

Open Source Computer Science

[vtron]

A channel that does physics, math, machine learning, statistics, or computer science with Manim is an instant subscription.

[NickDory]

Super chill vibe! The animations are super clean, I always wondered how algorithms were interpreted in math.

[Camaltra]

Don't comment really often videos, but this one is a masterclass! Thanks a lot 🙏

[akshaygowda]

What a wonderful way of explaining! You explained it in a super way man. Thank you very much for such a beautiful video.

[swiveiproduction]

As a computer engineer student I can say this is helpful

[dev_algo]

Can you please continue the whole book please your explanation is good

[syllabusgames]

Great video! This was a really clear explanation with flow between every step of the process. Some notes though:
When you are editing your video, play someone else’s video and compare the volume levels. I almost maxed out my volume watching this.
I’m not sure why you used max := instead of just =. Is this mathematical notation or programmatic? It's unfamiliar to me.
I appreciate that your flowchart uses goto/jump instructions rather than attempting to explain loops to someone who may know nothing about programming. It’s just a good optimization to avoid losing people many creators wouldn’t have considered.
At 13:40 when you switch to 4 element tuples, it might have been beneficial to color code the data types because the arrays of data are getting a little tough to keep track of. It’s not necessary, but doing this would also make it easy to add a key to the bottom of the screen ([inputs], current iteration, current max, program step). Adding a key may not help many people, but it won’t hurt anyone, and there’s room.
It would have been nice if you showed how the program counter would be utilized to produce the flowchart from earlier. I assume this would just be writing a 1 and 2 next to their corresponding steps on the chart, but I’m not certain, which is why I think it should be added.
Regardless of my suggestions, you taught this very well.

[binoykuroomvila]

Nice video!! I subscribed immediately. Please post more such videos

[josephaluoch]

Can you or anyone recommend prerequisite knowledge or reading to have before reading these 'Art of Computer Programming' volumes?

[peterosudar]

What if an algorithm was just the description... and articulation... not the action "doing of stuff"... less a recipe and more a story... hmmm think about it. But! Think about it like a story instead of an "AnSWer"...