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   Seminário de Teoria da Computação e Combinatória (TCC)

                  Tarde de Algoritmos 
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Título:      The Role of Science and Mathematics in Software 
             Development

Palestrante: Robert Sedgewick
             Princeton University

Hora e Data: 14h00, segunda-feira, 09 de novembro de 2009

Local:       Auditório Antonio Gilioli, Bloco A

Resumo:

This talk addresses the growing realization that a return to
the scientific method is  an essential ingredient for future
success in algorithm design and in software development.

The  talk is  centered  on a  detailed illustrative  example
involving the behavior of algorithms for finding a path from
a source to  a destination in a graph,  an operation that is
critical   in  a   broad  variety   of   applications,  from
statistical physics  to combinatorial optimization  to image
processing.   The basic  performance characteristics  of the
numerous  known algorithms for  solving this  problem (which
are elementary) are  actually poorly understood.  Developing
such understanding leads to  the discovery of new approaches
that are  dramatically more  effective than those  in common
use. This  example illustrates that  software developers and
algorithm  designers  who   depend  upon  untested  theories
instead  of scientific  studies to  evaluate  algorithms are
taking risks and missing opportunities.

Concluding remarks  will center upon  research directions in
the  field  of analytic  combinatorics,  which provides  the
mathematical foundations in support of such studies.