Chapter 1, Pause Reflect

• 1.1--1.4

• 1.1: The minimum number of throws to sort is one, but the danger is that there is no bound on the maximum number of hands, it could take two throws or two-million throws or more. This isn't the most efficient sorting method, but it's reminiscent of the card game "52-card pickup".

• 1.2: To be precise, there should be complete information on how to form a hand from the four separate "piles" of cards arranged by suit. When explaining things to people you can often leave a lot unsaid, to be understood by the person to whom you're explaining. However, when writing a computer program or implementing an algorithm you often need to be completely precise in painstaking detail.

• 1.3: You'll have to write this description of how to sort, each person will have a different method. Be sure to be very precise.

• 1.4: It's not too difficult for a person to verify that 32 numbers are in order, but it's also very easy to make a mistake, especially with 6-digit numbers. I would not be very confident in reading a list of 32 6-digit numbers with having to decide if the numbers were in sorted order. For 100,000 numbers the task is all but impossible for humans, we just don't have the patience to do this. On the other hand, it's very easy for a computer program to verify that 32 or 100,000 numbers are in sorted order.