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What's the fastest way to alphabetize your bookshelf? - Chand John

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You work at the college library. You’re in the middle of a quiet afternoon when suddenly, a shipment of 1,280 books arrives. The books are in a straight line, but they're all out of order, and the automatic sorting system is broken. How can you sort the books quickly? Chand John shows how, shedding light on how algorithms help librarians and search engines speedily sort information.

How would you approach a long homework assignment with 30 short-answer questions? Would you answer all the questions in order? Would you skim all the questions and do the easy ones first, and then go back and do the harder ones? Or would you try to get the harder ones out of the way first, and then answer the other questions? Why?

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About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Chand John
  • Director Anton Trofimov
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Narrator Pen-Pen Chen

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