
Ask HN: What are the numbers everyone should know in 2019? - makk
https://everythingisdata.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/numbers-everyone-should-know/
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idoubtit
How come a meaningless question, which is probably just a click-bait for
promoting a web site, is the first result on HN?

I'm worried about HN. This is totally subjective, but I feel that technical
content related to computers is now sparse in the top pages, while it was
preponderant. And the culture of ads and lucrative visits is damaging the
site, like everywhere online.

Maybe this is false and the change is within myself, anyway I should keep away
from HN.

~~~
makk
Wow. So, I was preparing for technical interviews I came across that post from
2009. And the values in the tables seemed relevant but potentially dated. And
so the question to HN is directed toward whether those values are still valid,
and whether other values are relevant now. The title of the post is a
reference to the title of the OP.

~~~
dahart
Oh, I think I completely missed that it was a question. Having this comment in
the original question probably would have helped. So, to answer the question,
there are definitely some numbers in that chart that are closely related to
the speed of light, so they can’t ever change. Most other numbers are still
reasonably close due to the end of Moore’s law. But, the list itself feels a
little dated since it references spinning disks and doesn’t mention SSDs.
These days, I’d maybe include something about modern GPUs, number of flops &
typical memory/bus bandwidth. It’s also fun to extend your posted chart with
longer times like around the world, or out to geosynchronous orbit or the moon
and back. I do sometimes ask an interview question about what is the fastest
way to get a terabyte of data from LA or NY with specific assumptions, or
something along those lines.

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dvh
21: largest number factored by quantum computer (including only algorithms
that can scale into cryptographic levels)

~~~
gundmc
"Here we experimentally demonstrate the factorization of two bi-primes,
4088459 and 966887 using IBM's 5- and 16-qubit quantum processors, hence
making those the largest numbers that have been factorized on a quantum
device."[1]

It looks like some real progress has been made with qbit quality and stability
in the last few years! I think that 21 figure held for quite a while. Maybe it
still does hold and I'm misunderstanding some of the nuance.

1 - [https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.10478](https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.10478)

~~~
dvh
Yes, those are the examples of quantum methods that don't scale to
cryptographic levels. The only one that can scale is shor's and the answer is
still 21. [https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/59795/largest-
int...](https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/59795/largest-integer-
factored-by-shors-algorithm)

~~~
gundmc
Thanks for clarifying! TIL

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dahart
Since the original source doesn’t seem to be attributed, I believe this chart
came from Peter Norvig.
[http://norvig.com/21-days.html#answers](http://norvig.com/21-days.html#answers)

In case anyone wants to read any of the many previous discussions:
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=latency%20numbers%20every%20pr...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=latency%20numbers%20every%20programmer%20should%20know&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story)

~~~
makk
Fantastic. This is exactly what I was looking for.

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vpribish
the title would be improved by specifying that this is about computing
performance - not, say, global economics, nutrition, or cosmology.

maybe "What are the computing performance numbers developers should know in
2019?"

~~~
makk
Agreed. I cannot update the title, apparently. Would if I could.

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weego
Standard reminder for younger devs when this stuff is posted that almost no
one needs to know these numbers let alone 'everyone'.

~~~
makk
You're right. In retrospect I could have picked a better title. My bad!

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bo1024
71 - approx number of domains this webpage connects to

53 - approx number of those known to be associated with advertising and
tracking

Sorry to post something negative, I think the idea in the post is cool, but in
2019 everyone should know this...

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m00dy
I was in a meeting with other developers and we were discussing pros/cons for
a module that needs to be rewritten. The discussion came to the point where
the team has different opinions on network overhead. That was the time
actually I remember using concrete numbers/values can help you win
debates/discussions easily. :)

~~~
makk
Bingo. Helps in job interviews, too!

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cjhanks
An of course, the nice interactive plot:
[https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~rcs/research/interactive_l...](https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~rcs/research/interactive_latency.html)

~~~
makk
Awesome. That's what I was looking for!

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smaili
Great content - awful ads

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notyourwork
Off topic but that top banner ad is annoying to say the least. (I’m on
mobile.)

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cm2012
*Programmers/developers should know.

~~~
makk
You're right. Should have been more precise and not mimicked the title of the
OP.

------
normalperson
[http://www.unz.com/isteve/the-worlds-most-important-
graph/](http://www.unz.com/isteve/the-worlds-most-important-graph/)

