Mike Bostock - Design is a Search Problem

[@thatsalot3577]

I was looking into D3 and wanted to see this man, this was perhaps the best and most consistent Javascript library I've used so far.

[@vinodabcd]

Good talk, Love how Mike analogizes so much to algorithms.

[@hawkkim1974]

quite honest talk

[@rodrigolima8048]

i can't believe bostock is actually obi wan kenobi

[@FelipeGualberto]

This guy is a genius.

[@manuprakash1989]

inspiring

[@sendark001]

I would love to work with these guys.

[@AlbertNikanorovtscosj]

I thought Mike is Bell Labs guy in his 60s

[@deputyVH]

Why? D3 is not that old.

[@schneeekind]

I LOLed hard

[@AlbertNikanorovtscosj]

Oh, Mike Rostock is different in his twitter's photo profile,

[@GerbenWijnja]

Maybe you're looking at the wrong person. This is Mike Bostock, not Rostock.

[@les2997]

Mike is right: design is a search problem, but this got me thinking about another area... Evolution now makes no sense to me. "Natural Selection selects for the functional advantage, but the mutational search has to find it within the combinatorial sequence that's being explored...natural selection doesn't work until you have something functional to be selected." -- Stephen Myer

[@kdani3]

+Les Another layman here, but I think I got your answer. Functional should really signify something that is sustainable. That can be "able to reproduce and help offspring" in the case of most animals and plants. But when you are talking about simpler organisms, things that cannot even be considered living, finding something functional may not be that unlikely. For example, it's not so hard to imagine a simple crystal structure that works like a mold in a way that when it's put into the right chemical environment it can copy recursively. It does not even have to be able to create a copy of itself. Any recurring sequence would do. (For example an alternation of negative and positive molds) It's enough that it can grow in a way that each branch of the structure is very similar (but slightly different) to each other. You already have a concept of competition in this simple thought experiment. If one branch of this structure has a simpler shape and is able to grow faster, it'll eventually grow bigger than the rest and steal its resources, causing it to molder from gradual chemical degradation. A branch with a basic ability to repair is also more sustainable. There are many different functional characteristics to be selected here. And that's actually a summarized version of one theory of how living things came into existence.

[@les2997]

+Dániel Kántor Perhaps the software industry could use the amazing design / search features of dumb material processes :)

[@kdani3]

Les Well, it does, actually. In computer science you have evolutionary/genetic algorithms, which are based off a formalized model of evolution. Many sciences use such algorithms for optimization purposes, such as in engineering, where you can use them to find the best shape for an antenna for example. There is a wide range of applications. Working on an automatized diet planner, I use a similar (very simple!) algorithm. Read about what it can do in my note: facebook.com/notes/d%C3%A1niel-k%C3%A1ntor/get-your-food-right-for-36-or-less-a-day/1314085741941475 That said, this approach can only be used in some situations. In other situations, doing the math yourself can absurdly outperform evolution.

[@les2997]

+Dániel Kántor Right, but these algorithms have a designer. I never saw a large scale computer simulation confirming evolution.

[@kdani3]

Les I think a fairly simple software example can demonstrate why evolution can work. I used a reasonable set of ingredients for my diet planner, but if I added one million nonsense ingredients and just a handful (

[@tractatusviii7465]

chief d3 chairmaker. love & hate

[@artychartybyjackmerlinbruc7134]

How do you export D3 visualizations to SVG files?

[@deputyVH]

Strange question as D3 generates SVG so if you view the source code of the web page you can see the generated SVG. Of course the web page may include some of the styles used by the SVG output so you will need that too.