Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.python > #63169

Re: Blog "about python 3"

Show all headers | View raw

In article <mailman.4929.1388896998.18130.python-list@python.org>,
 Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 8:50 AM, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> wrote:
> > I wrote:
> >> > I realize I'm taking this statement out of context, but yes, sometimes
> >> > fast is more important than correct.
> >
> > In article <52c8c301$0$29998$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com>,
> >  Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> wrote:
> >> Fast is never more important than correct.
> >
> > Sure it is.
> >
> > Let's imagine you're building a system which sorts packages for
> > delivery.  You sort 1 million packages every night and put them on
> > trucks going out for final delivery.
> >
> > Some assumptions:
> >
> > Every second I can cut from the sort time saves me $0.01.
> >
> > If I mis-sort a package, it goes out on the wrong truck, doesn't get
> > discovered until the end of the day, and ends up costing me $5
> > (including not just the direct cost of redelivering it, but also
> > factoring in ill will and having to make the occasional refund for not
> > meeting the promised delivery time).
> >
> > I've got a new sorting algorithm which is guaranteed to cut 10 seconds
> > off the sorting time (i.e. $0.10 per package).  The problem is, it makes
> > a mistake 1% of the time.
> >
> > Let's see:
> >
> > 1 million packages x $0.10 = $100,000 saved per day because I sort them
> > faster.  10,000 of them will go to the wrong place, and that will cost
> > me $50,000 per day.  By going fast and making mistakes once in a while,
> > I increase my profit by $50,000 per day.
> >
> > The numbers above are fabricated, but I'm sure UPS, FexEx, and all the
> > other package delivery companies are doing these sorts of analyses every
> > day.  I watch the UPS guy come to my house.  He gets out of his truck,
> > walks to my front door, rings the bell, waits approximately 5
> > microseconds, leaves the package on the porch, and goes back to his
> > truck.  I'm sure UPS has figured out that the amortized cost of the
> > occasional stolen or lost package is less than the cost for the delivery
> > guy to wait for me to come to the front door and sign for the delivery.
> >
> > Looking at another problem domain, let's say you're a contestant on
> > Jeopardy.  If you listen to the entire clue and spend 3 seconds making
> > sure you know the correct answer before hitting the buzzer, it doesn't
> > matter if you're right or wrong.  Somebody else beat you to the buzzer,
> > 2.5 seconds ago.
> >
> > Or, let's take an example from sports.  I'm standing at home plate
> > holding a bat.  60 feet away from me, the pitcher is about to throw a
> > baseball towards me at darn close to 100 MPH (insert words like "bowl"
> > and "wicket" as geographically appropriate).  400 ms later, the ball is
> > going to be in the catcher's glove if you don't hit it.  If you have an
> > absolutely perfect algorithm to determining if it's a ball or a strike,
> > which takes 500 ms to run, you're going back to the minor leagues.  If
> > you have a 300 ms algorithm which is right 75% of the time, you're
> > heading to the hall of fame.
> 
> 
> Neat examples -- thanks
> Only minor quibble isnt $5 cost of mis-sorting a gross underestimate?

I have no idea.  Like I said, the numbers are all fabricated.

I do have a friend who used to work for UPS.  He told me lots of UPS 
efficiency stories.  One of them had to do with mis-routed packages.  
IIRC, the process for dealing with a mis-routed package was to NOT waste 
any time trying to figure out why it was mis-routed.  It was just thrown 
back into the input hopper to go through the whole system again.  The 
sorting software kept track of how many times it had sorted a particular 
package.  Only after N attempts (where N was something like 3), was it 
kicked out of the automated process for human intervention.

Back to comp.lang.python | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-30 19:41 +0000
  Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2013-12-30 20:49 +0000
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-30 21:29 +0000
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-30 14:38 -0800
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-12-31 12:09 +1100
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-31 04:38 +0000
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-12-31 15:44 +1100
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-30 20:33 -0800
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-31 04:59 +0000
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-31 08:22 +0000
      Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-12-31 20:53 +1100
        Re: Blog "about python 3" Antoine Pitrou <solipsis@pitrou.net> - 2013-12-31 14:13 +0000
          Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-12-31 10:41 -0500
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-01 02:54 +1100
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-31 15:55 +0000
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-02 17:36 +0000
              Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-03 15:49 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-03 04:01 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-03 02:10 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-03 21:24 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-03 08:56 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-03 12:28 +0000
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-03 09:57 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-04 02:32 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-03 17:00 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-01-04 04:04 +0000
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-04 08:55 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 01:17 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-04 11:10 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-04 17:46 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-05 06:23 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-01-05 10:20 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-05 17:14 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-07 05:34 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-07 09:54 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> - 2014-01-08 09:38 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-07 19:02 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-08 01:59 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-08 14:26 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-01-08 20:04 +0000
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-05 17:48 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 10:28 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-01-04 12:51 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-05 13:27 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 13:32 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2014-01-05 02:41 +0000
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-04 22:20 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 10:12 +0530
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-05 00:11 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-05 17:28 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-01-05 14:05 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 15:01 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-05 11:34 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-06 03:51 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-05 12:09 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-06 11:42 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-05 17:56 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-06 10:59 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-06 12:23 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-06 12:54 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-01-06 05:53 +0000
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Devin Jeanpierre <jeanpierreda@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 00:00 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-05 23:28 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 23:48 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-01-05 11:10 -0500
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-01-05 13:51 -0500
            Re: Blog "about python 3" David Hutto <dwightdhutto@gmail.com> - 2014-01-02 13:25 -0500
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-02 13:37 -0500
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Antoine Pitrou <solipsis@pitrou.net> - 2014-01-02 23:57 +0000
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-03 10:32 +0000
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-03 11:14 +0000
              Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-04 05:52 -0800
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-05 13:41 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-05 13:54 +1100
                Re: Blog "about python 3" wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-05 02:39 -0800
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-03 11:37 +0000
            Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-01-04 07:30 +0000
        Re: Blog "about python 3" Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> - 2014-01-05 13:14 +0100
          Re: Blog "about python 3" Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml@behnel.de> - 2014-01-05 14:55 +0100
        Re: Blog "about python 3" Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-01-05 13:10 +0000
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-12-31 20:04 +1100
    Re: Blog "about python 3" Devin Jeanpierre <jeanpierreda@gmail.com> - 2013-12-30 20:25 -0800

csiph-web