Watch a computer put a shuffled list in order, and hear it happen. Every move it makes is a note: tall bars play high, short bars play low. Nothing is faked, and no music is added afterward.
Bogosort putting 7 bars in order by shuffling at random: 4,696 shuffles, 40,988 operations, 62 seconds.
How it works
A sorting algorithm is just a recipe a computer follows to put things in order. We record every step it takes, then play the steps back as a video and as sound.
We shuffle a list of numbers, hand it to a real sorting algorithm, and write down every single step it takes. The video replays those steps in order, slowed down so you can follow along. Nothing is staged or sped up for effect.
Every time the algorithm moves a bar, that bar plays a note. Taller bars play higher. The key, instrument and chords are chosen fresh for every run, so no two videos sound the same.
When the sort is done, we step through the finished list one bar at a time to show it really is in order. In the route videos, the melody only ever rises, because the algorithm reaches nearby places before far ones. That rising sound is the proof it works.
Series
Four formats, one rule: nothing is faked.
One algorithm, one shuffled list, one minute. The classics you'll meet in any first programming course, plus a few strange ones.
Up to four algorithms sorting the exact same list at the exact same pace. Whoever needs the fewest moves wins. Pick one before it ends.
How a maps app finds the fastest way across a city, shown on a city we made up. The route drawn at the end is the real fastest one.
Algorithms so bad they're famous for it, like one that just shuffles until it gets lucky. Real runs, real try counts.
Requests
Comment on any video with an algorithm you'd like to see, a matchup for a race, or how many bars. We work through requests in order, and you're credited in the caption. Studying for a class or an interview? Say which topic and we'll put it in the queue.
Work with us
Whatever we make together, two rules hold: it has to have really happened, and the sponsor is named on screen.