The Algorithm Behind Everything You Build (But Never Think About)

Imagine you’re an employee at a data processing firm. You intake data from your coworkers, make some new data, and hand off the results to other coworkers.

Sub-problem: Recursion

TTH

  • Title
    • “Why Compute Graphs Are Unreasonably Powerful”
    • “The Surprising Power of Compute Graphs”
    • “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Compute Graphs”
    • The Hidden Power of Compute Graphs (You Use Them Every Day)
    • Compute Graphs Explained: The Secret Behind Modern Software
    • What Are Compute Graphs? (And Why They’re Everywhere)
    • The Algorithm Behind Everything You Build (But Never Think About)
      • Thumbnail: Picture of avatar next to code with graph visualization of the code?
    • The Algorithm Behind Everything You Build (That No One Talks About)
  • Hook (what does the viewer gain? The Promise. Value.)
    • Dream outcome: “building something cool they can brag about. Knowledge over peers.”
    • "Why do so many junior developers struggle to see the importance of algorithms beyond passing interviews?"
      • Gather Reddit posts of users complaining about never using algorithms on the job.
    • “Compute graphs are foundational to many algorithms powering a wide range of software, including frameworks like GraphQL and PyTorch. While the concept is straightforward, their utility is immense.”
    • Relatability: “I used to think algorithms were just an interview checklist: sorting, searching, maybe a binary tree if you’re feeling fancy.”
    • “But here’s the thing: algorithms aren’t just theory. They’re everywhere—hidden inside the tools and frameworks you use every day.”
    • In fact, the code you write, every day, is itself a compute graph.
  • Emotions
    • “Job market.”
    • “Lack of enthusiasm about the underlying thing you’re working on.”

Build Tension

  • What’s the one point you’re building towards, and how do you build tension along the way? Intro/climax/resolution.
    • Payoff:
      • Why if you hate DSA, you actually just don’t like CS in general
      • Build tension by framing the video as the missing piece of their programming knowledge that will unlock a deeper understanding of the tools they already use.

Writing

  • Intro
    • Undo the clickbait in the title
      • Imagine an office of workers each with their own tasks, where they depend on the work of other workers. They’re blocked until they have all the things they need to begin their task.
      • Now imagine those workers are able to remember their outputs for specific inputs.
    • Set up the value proposition
    • Why is it important
    • Who are you? Why are you credible?
      • I am an anxiety ridden corporate dev with ADHD who cannot finish a single project but enjoys exploring technologies and abstractions.
      • Relatability: "When I was starting out, I thought algorithms were just for interview prep. It took me years to realize they’re at the heart of everything we build."
      • "The reason so many developers hate algorithms isn’t because they’re hard—it’s because nobody shows you why they’re useful."
      • "What if I told you that understanding compute graphs could change the way you think about building software forever?”
      • Relatability: "I know the feeling: hours spent memorizing sorting algorithms for a job interview, only to never use them in your day-to-day work."
    • Why should the audience care?
      • "In this video, I’m going to show you how compute graphs—used everywhere from machine learning to game engines—are one of the most practical algorithms you’ve probably never heard of."
  • CTA (sales pitch)
    • Lead the user to another YouTube video (drives algorithm)
    • What comes next? UI implementation?
  • Topics
    • Existing Compute Graphs
    • Types
      • Type casting
      • Base types
        • Int/Float/String
      • Complex/custom types
        • Image
        • API call
    • Node types
      • Entry nodes
      • Compute nodes
    • Compilation Versus JIT Execution
    • Graph algorithms for compute logic, where the outputs of one graph go to the inputs of another graph
      • Need to handle infinite loops
      • Need to handle await/async

Filming

Editing

Shorts

“What the hell is a compute graph?”

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