Mario Carrion
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Finished Reading: Algorithms to live by
Oct 18, 2018

Algorithms to live by is a book written by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths, published by Picador in 2017.

Algorithms to live by was a long but fascinating read, I specially liked the way Brian and Tom take existing well-known algorithms and use human problems to describe the solutions, it was amazing.

The way they go on explaining how the things we do without thinking in our daily lives, the decisions we make, could be considered not the most efficient ones yet they are the best decisions we make. To me that was the most surprising thing about the book, because as software developers we always get caught on the idea of looking for the “best” solution that satisfies all the possible situations, but choosing the best solution depends on different variables we must evaluate when delivering the final implementation. It’s a trade-off game.

One thing to mention is that although some concrete algorithms are described in the book with real world examples, don’t approach it thinking you will find a collection of algorithms that you can use for your daily life, even if the way the book is structured makes it look like that. Algorithms to live by is a nice read, that will blow you mind more than once and, as a Computer Programmer, should give you another perspective when doing your work and living your life.


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