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hin bars of varying height dance across the Chromebook screen, accompanied by what to me sound like classic computer bleeps and bloops. I don’t know what I’m watching, but whatever it is is strangely mesmerizing; the sounds grow faster and faster and, gradually, a gradient pattern surfaces out of the randomness.
Senior Ryan Schuett points to the screen, explaining the difference between stable and unstable sorting algorithms. Those flickering numbers and shifting bars obviously mean something more to him than a light show, and his enthusiasm makes me want to know what it is. He is happy to explain. Despite all the technical jargon he uses, I gradually begin to understand what I’m seeing. Those white bars represent numbers, and the program is arranging them by size.
On my second meeting with Schuett, I had asked him to show me one of his recently completed projects, a sorting algorithm visualizer. Unlike many previously existing programs, his is entirely web-based and is accessible with virtually any device — even a Chromebook. As we sat outside the school library, he navigated to the list of algorithms on the site. “One of my favorites is partially combed, but random shuffle is the classic one, so I’ll just show you this,” he said.
A sorting algorithm, he explained, is a computer program used to arrange data by some value. For example, one could sort a randomized list of numbers by their size. Although it may sound straightforward, there are a surprisingly large number of ways to go about performing this task, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks.
Schuett spoke deliberately as he described the fine differences between the different types of sorting algorithms, pausing every once in a while to make sure he used the right word or correcting himself if he said something not technically accurate. Gesturing with both arms, he described the trade-offs in memory usage, efficiency, and stability that go into choosing which algorithm type to use. “You could have it be n times logarithm of n, you can have it be stable, and you can have it not use auxiliary arrays. But you can only pick two,” he said.
One thing that stuck with me from my very first meeting with Schuett was his love for efficiency. Although he can program in a wide array of languages — C#, JavaScript, Python, Java — his favorite is C++, an older language known both for its difficult syntax and for its speed. He proudly told me about a script he worked on for his IT Essentials class. It had initially taken about a minute to run, which to many people might seem good enough. He managed to reduce the run time to about two seconds.
