SORTDEMO.BAS
fragglet1 HN recommender · recommended in 1 month, 2019–2023
demo · general · evergreen · 2019–2023 on HN
A three-minute capture of SORTDEMO.BAS, the sorting visualization that shipped with QBasic. It animates insertion, bubble, heap, exchange, shell and quick sort with chiptune-like sound.
HN fondly recalls it as the ideal visual demonstration of sorting algorithms and as the thing that got some people into programming.
Up next
10 mo on HNCppCon 2017: Matt Kulukundis “Designing a Fast, Efficient, Cache-friendly Hash Table, Step by Step”
CppCon
9 HN recommender · 2018–2026
8 mo on HNThe Fast Fourier Transform (FFT): Most Ingenious Algorithm Ever?
Reducible
7 HN recommender · 2021–2026
9 mo on HNModern Dictionaries by Raymond Hettinger
SF Python
9 HN recommender · 2016–2025
7 mo on HNCppCon 2014: Chandler Carruth "Efficiency with Algorithms, Performance with Data Structures"
CppCon
7 HN recommender · 2014–2024
7 mo on HNCppCon 2017: Juan Pedro Bolivar Puente “Postmodern immutable data structures”
CppCon
5 HN recommender · 2017–2025
6 mo on HNSorting Algorithms: Speed Is Found In The Minds of People - Andrei Alexandrescu - CppCon 2019
CppCon
7 HN recommender · 2019–2024
6 mo on HNThe Fastest Way to Board a Plane Feels Like the Slowest
CGP Grey
9 HN recommender · 2020–2023
6 mo on HN30 Weird Chess Algorithms: Elo World
suckerpinch
8 HN recommender · 2019–2026
6 mo on HNRobust-first computing: Demon Horde Sort (full version)
Dave Ackley
3 HN recommender · 2015–2023
5 mo on HNStanford Lecture: Don Knuth—"A Conjecture That Had To Be True" (2017)
Stanford Online
1 HN recommend · 2017–2023
4 mo on HNA Sudoku Solver in APL
Dyalog
4 HN recommender · 2015–2022
5 mo on HNAdvanced Topics in Programming Languages: A Lock-Free Hash Table
GoogleTalksArchive
4 HN recommender · 2013–2024
3 comments from Hacker News
Q(uick)Basic was my first programming language, and as others mentioned NIBBLES and GORILLAS.BAS were bundled with it. It also had the ability to compile down to an executable, which was fantastic. One bundled script I don't see mentioned yet was SORTDEMO.BAS - this is still my ideal for demonstrating different sorts visually: ▶ this video
Watching SORTDEMO.BAS at the formative age of ~11 baited me into programming. I recall messing around trying to make even faster versions. ▶ this video
I discovered sorting algorithms (including bubblesort) from SORTDEMO.BAS -- ▶ this video -- which came with QBasic.