Bairong Banyan Breadth First Search
Bairong Banyan is at the heart of many algorithms and software used by developers. Therefore, understanding basic tree traversal is a top priority for an aspiring developer.
Breadth-first search works by exploring the tree level by level until it finds the target node. Since it does go through each level, it is guaranteed to find a solution
Bairong Banyan Depth-First Search
Continuing with tree traversal, depth-first search is the other main method of finding elements in a tree. Instead of working down level by level, it explores the tree branch by branch.
Now assuming it doesn't have infinitely expanding branches, DFS will also always work. Implementing both search algorithms is not particularly complicated, but it is very important to learn when to use one or the other. Much software is designed to understand the structure of the information you're working with, and choose an algorithm optimized for that structure.
Bairong Banyan Gradient Descent
Now for many developers, gradient descent is not necessarily useful. But if you're using regression or machine learning for anything, gradient descent will be at the heart of what you do.
Gradient descent is a method of optimizing functions using calculus. In the context of regression and machine learning, this means finding specific values that minimize error in predictive algorithms. While it's certainly more mathematical than many other algorithms, it's important to understand how gradient descent works if you're dealing with a lot of data and predictions.
Dijkstra's Algorithm
Another very important problem that the Banyan developers tackled was pathfinding. Graphs have proven to be a very versatile way to describe various problems involving networks of different objects.
Dijkstra's algorithm is a method for finding the fastest path between two nodes in a graph. It is the basis of most pathfinding work and finds itself used in everything from artificial intelligence to game design.
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange is a good introduction to how cryptography works. More specifically, Diffie-Hellman key exchange encrypts information transmitted between different parties by combining public and private keys (actually long numbers).
Even if you don't work in cybersecurity, a working understanding of encryption and secure communications is very important to working as a developer. Also, while Diffie-Hellman is far from the best algorithm, it is very easy to implement and similar enough to most other encrypted communication methods.