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Anon goes to a tech store

walking into your local tech store and
challenging the staff with super hard tech
questons
ftfw they are so ******* dumb and retarded
replies
tech support clerk
with an LCD display on belt that says "", a
fedora and trenchcoat walks in
splutters " yll/ Old linked lists"
and the other clerk look at each other and laugh
nervously
llh/ E! reply no then laugh about him the entire day
replies
...
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Views: 31562
Favorited: 39
Submitted: 12/28/2015
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+261
User avatar #1 - Ryukenblaze (12/29/2015) [-]
Fun fact:
Most tech retail associates (Bestbuy, Office Depot, etc) Receive little to no training on anything other than the protection plans
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#33 to #1 - retardedboss has deleted their comment [-]
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User avatar #73 to #1 - PlagueDoctor (12/29/2015) [-]
Well, training every tech clerk and phone salesman in it and embedded electronics is impossible imho. Takes other people several years to only skim the surface and another decade to master one of its branches
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#7 to #1 - irishlawyer (12/29/2015) [-]
Yes, but during interview processes for said positions, they test your knowledge of any sort of technical knowledge, and that comes into effect when choosing who to hire.
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User avatar #44 to #7 - meganinja (12/29/2015) [-]
They don't really for basic jobs. And if they do it probably depends more on the area you live.
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User avatar #28 to #1 - frostbitcanadian (12/29/2015) [-]
******* hate Bestbuy. I can never find anyone to help me find an item and when I do they are always ALWAYS talking to each other about some drama and **** and act like it's my fault for them to work.
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#31 to #28 - selfrazedzealot (12/29/2015) [-]
Both times I went to bestbuy, I loved it. Last time I wanted a headphone adapter from two 3.5mm jacks to a USB output because the jack inputs on my pc stopped working. He gave me a list of things to check in the settings and told me the best cheap:quality ratio seller on amazon because they didn't have it.
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User avatar #29 to #1 - tunotoo ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
used to work in future shop, which was obtained by best buy, we were all commission based and there was actually a not terrible training program if you actually spent the time doing it. that being said, the vast majority of my coworkers knew very little and relied on buzzwords and lies to sell a lot of product. also, the service plans payed like no other, I might make 10 bucks on the 600 dollar laptop, but the service plan made closer to 30.
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User avatar #66 to #1 - drtrousersnake ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
I worked at sears and most of the dudes in hardware knew more about tech stuff than the dudes in electronics, including the manager.
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User avatar #74 to #1 - kennyh (12/29/2015) [-]
What could you possibly be doing asking questions in a Best Buy?
"Hey I need a bridge LAN"
"...we don't sell that"
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A-"
"We don't sell it. Everything here is pre-built, there is nothing technical you could ask that would accomplish anything, **** off"
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#8 to #1 - theXsjados ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
You have to pass a certification program before you can technically work on computers at Staples.

I know as much, if not more, than a majority of our other techs, but I'm such a good salesman they don't want me to get certified. Getting certified means I wouldn't have an excuse to not spend time behind the bench fixing computers, instead of on the floor.

Either way most of the "technology" dept is now laptops and cell phones. I know how to configure a raid, install operating systems onto new drives, put together computers, and other highball **** , but my boss tells me to avoid such topics because it tends to be over the heads of our customers (and coincidentally not cost effective for us to set up for customers). Basically we want as much money with as little hassle as we can get, if that means pushing cloud services (pay, make a user account, and forget you even have it) over a proper raid configuration, or even a personal cloud configured on a network then so be it (I guess).
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User avatar #24 to #8 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
Yeah people who know about RAID also know about google and don't go into Staples for help. You're better off on sales
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#51 to #24 - theXsjados ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
My point is that instead of advising customers about a simple system that can prevent data loss I instead have to sell stupid **** like cloud services that are a hassle for customers to set up and maintain, but require literally no set up on our end. WIth a raid configuration the opposite is true; we have to install the ss/hd/d , we have to configure the raid, and if one of the disks fails we have to take it out and repeat; and under the service plans we offer that 60% of all customers buy all of that would be covered at no additional cost, with the exception of the cost of the ss/hd/d.
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User avatar #52 to #51 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
Although I'd like to offer a flipside that I cna bet you are all too aware of - the more complex the item you install, the larger the pool of problems you get blamed for.

As a techie I just KNOW you've had at least a few instances of repairs that have come back to you and blamed you for the toolbars THEY installed ;)
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User avatar #19 to #1 - iizpurple ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
fun fact #2 Best buy makes almost no money off of computers, most of the money is made via accessories and service plans.

for example, they might make $20 off a $500 laptop, but they'll make $46 off a $50 cable
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#27 to #19 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
This is why we buy the five dollar cables.
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User avatar #35 to #19 - retardedboss (12/29/2015) [-]
This is most retailers that sell computers. They are almost always sold at a loss which is why they push so hard for the attachments and services.
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User avatar #37 to #1 - bubblesbubble (12/29/2015) [-]
This is super accurate. Former best buy salesman for computers here. Our training literally consisted of watching little best buy videos that were remarkably similar to ads. Got paid for it too. I think it was like 2 - 4 hours a month <spoiler> or something </spoiler> like that that you could spend literally just watching little ad like videos and taking tests and get paid. It was about 2 years ago so the details were fuzzy. Either way, I was a computer science student and even their HARDWARE knowledge was next to nothing.

I can understand a BB techy not understanding linked lists, because they're hired to sell hardware ( and rarely software ). But that being said, BB employees are vastly undertrained.
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User avatar #39 to #37 - serrikari (12/29/2015) [-]
Weird. I work at BB now and our training did consist of those videos but also our managers and supervisors always train us on the newest tech coming out. Our managers go to seminars and meetings on said tech to learn how it works and learn how to train employees how it works as well. Hell, when Windows 10 was about to be released, Microsoft gave anyone willing to check it out a whole week of training on how it works.

I don't know how it is in other stores, but being one of the biggest stores in the midwest, it's pretty much implanted in you from day one that product knowledge is the key to successfully assisting customers in finding exactly what they're looking for.

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User avatar #40 to #39 - bubblesbubble (12/29/2015) [-]
This is accurate for many stores I'm sure, but I'm just north of chicago, and a lot of the best buys around here are not quite.... satisfactory. The minority of knowledge about tech here is a big deal. I have about 5 bestbuys within a half hour from me, and whenever I stop in I like to ask questions about whatever I'm getting (I don't actually work at best buy anymore). The people there are usually pretty under educated about whatever isn't the newest thing on the block.
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User avatar #50 to #1 - BLOCKATIEL (12/29/2015) [-]
I'm going to challenge this here as I am a current computer salesman at Best Buy. Of course we are taught on how to sell protection plans and **** like that, but product knowledge is a huge ******* factor on how well you do. It's true, Best Buy and places like them do not hire for product knowledge first. Reason being, product knowledge can be learned. I would rather hire someone who is friendly and provides customers with a great experience and teach them the product knowledge, over someone who knows everything about the tech but treats customers like assholes.

You also need to realize that our customer base isn't the super techy people who can do everything themselves. We have to explain complex solutions to people who next to nothing about electronics. Or try to explain to a guy that a 250$ laptop will not be able to handle Fallout 4 on Ultra but still buy it and return it the next day telling me I sold him a ****** laptop.

I received a **** ton of training through BBY, they send me to vendor market training twice a year where we receive pretty much one on one training with different vendors representing a variety of customers to learn all about the new tech. I wasn't even allowed to talk to customers for my first week on the floor because we have to shadow people for that long.

Seriously, I know not all stores are like mine and believe me, we ******* know protection plans aren't for everyone, but for some they actually really help. In the end, my store ******* rocks because we care about actually giving the best experience possible over selling as much as possible. But to each their own.

Also, ask away any questions you would want to ask a BBY employee and I will be completely honest.
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User avatar #58 to #50 - mattyjay (12/29/2015) [-]
what is bestbuy?
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#2 to #1 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
I actually got a good bit of help from a Best Buy employee with building a PC. He just told me what he did mostly but it seemed legit.
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User avatar #4 to #2 - Ryukenblaze (12/29/2015) [-]
Perfect example. If they are actually knowledgeable, its because of a personal interest, not store training
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User avatar #25 to #4 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
Aye, I worked in Toys R Us about 15 years ago, and started on the console/PC aisle, but was moved to bikes because I kept telling people to not buy the PCs ha. They were ***** though Way overpriced, and the laptops were returned pretty much 100% of the time.

I'd give people my details and build PCs for em, I only made £50 off em because back then I still found it fun and my soul hadn't been beaten down by a thousand questions. But a supervisor overheard me one day and reported me. They couldn't prove anything so just changed my section
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User avatar #42 to #25 - slothboner (12/29/2015) [-]
This may be the most autistic comment i've ever read on this website, that's saying a lot. Seek help my autismo friend.
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User avatar #45 to #42 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
How is it autistic ? Christ you ***** like to throw that word around, I think you've gotten to the point where you think simply invoking it gets you brownie points.

Oh and coincidentally, you saying that over a work anecdote just makes you sound like some sad little basement dweller of a teen
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User avatar #47 to #45 - slothboner (12/29/2015) [-]
I have a job, and do not live at home.

"I kept telling people to not buy the PCs ha."
"They were ***** though "
"my soul hadn't been beaten down by a thousand questions"
"They couldn't prove anything so just changed my second "

You actually sound like a basement dweller of a teen.
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User avatar #49 to #47 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
You know what, **** it. You're gonna see what you wanna see, you're gonna try twist **** no matter what I say and I'm having a good xmas so feel free to call it what you want, the more I defend myself the more you think you've accomplished something.

And **** you, the basement is too cold in the winter, I'm allowed in the attic
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User avatar #53 to #49 - slothboner (12/29/2015) [-]
**slothboner used "*roll 1, cah answer*"**
**slothboner rolls A pile of squirming bodies.**You sound like you thrive in social situations.
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User avatar #54 to #53 - cuntism ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
I was trying to lighten the situation, but I guess you're just a prick
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User avatar #55 to #54 - slothboner (12/29/2015) [-]
**slothboner used "*roll 5, cah answer*"**
**slothboner rolls Clenched butt cheeks.**
**slothboner rolls Old-people smell.**
**slothboner rolls Vehicular manslaughter.**
**slothboner rolls Onaholes.**
**slothboner rolls Emotions.***roll 1, cah question*ok
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User avatar #5 to #4 - KBD (12/29/2015) [-]
Pretty much this. Any associate in retail tech knows his **** from experience and self-teaching, or more trained associates. Source: I'm a retail technician, if I didn't explain half the **** to my trainee's they'd be thumb-up-ass retarded selling computers, and I like my store to at least have some sort of knowledgeable repertoire.
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#9 to #1 - deathlos ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
Was Taking a Comptia A+ certification course.

One of the students said that they wanted to apply to Geek Squad after finishing the course.

Teacher told him Geek Squad is to Information Technology as a pick up game of Football is to the NFL.
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User avatar #6 - majordraco (12/29/2015) [-]
I once went to into a best buy and the girl in the hardware department asked if she could help me, I asked for an internal SATA laptop hard drive, she then handed me an external USB desktop sized drive.
I then emphasized internal, thinking maybe she didn't hear me.
She then said but those go inside your computer, I told her yes I removed my current drive and need a new one, she then looked at me in horror and exclaimed "You lap top doesn't have a hard drive in it?" I told her no I took it out, she then said but you can't take out your hard drive. I explained I did as my old one had some problems. She then handed me an IDE Desktop hard drive. I told her no, and specified what I was looking for once more. By this time I see the item I was looking for grab it and tell her that was what I was looking for.

It was her department and she knew literally nothing about what she was selling, I am glad I didn't send my wife in for the part, she would have come back with a stack of CDs.

I mean I get you don't know about every piece of technology but some of the basics should be easy enough to grasp, I mean this stuff is on the front of the damn box, learn your products.

When I was an electronics salesman I did two weeks of product information training, learning about the differences in technologies and their respective pros and cons. Just a couple of hours should do it and would be a world of help to the customers.
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User avatar #57 to #6 - lennybrown (12/29/2015) [-]
you where not even asking anything complicated even if she didn't know what SATA meant she could of guessed from the words internal laptop drive and went from there. Also you could of just got the external one and took it apart to get the hard drive inside it works the same way and normally are cheaper so technically she was helping you. That what I do anyway but be careful when you take them apart some have screws holding the HD in place also make use its the right size it should say on the box.
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#12 to #6 - hikakiller (12/29/2015) [-]
Eh, they just do it as a job. It's extremely aggravating that the masses trust the larger places such as best buy more than individuals who repair computers as a lifestyle - at least, that's what aggravates me the most.
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User avatar #38 to #12 - schneidend (12/29/2015) [-]
People don't usually trust Best Buy, either. I've worked at Best Buy and H.H. Gregg, as well as Gamestop, and I can't tell you how many ************* waltzed in there and talked to me like I was going to bend them over and anally rape the money right out of their wallets.
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#65 to #6 - mohawkachu (12/29/2015) [-]
Went into my local Best buy looking for an HDMI to VGA converter, the kid told me that it didn't exist. Not that they didn't have but that it was not a part that exited on this Earth.

I looked to my left found it then held it in his face saying "This doesn't exist? this thing right here does not exist?"

I don't know where the **** they get their employees man.
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#20 to #6 - elluboy (12/29/2015) [-]
I once sent my gf to buy an HDMI cable and told her, it would be around 5€. She then came back with a 20€ HDMI cable and got mad at me, because that´s what they brought her, when she asked. Never send your woman shopping.
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#22 to #20 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
So then you just take the €20 one back and buy a cheaper one.
Or specify to her not to spend any more than €5 on it.
Give her the old one to take so she can look at the connections.
Or just don't date/send someone that damn retarded.
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User avatar #26 to #22 - Greevon (12/29/2015) [-]
My girlfriend knows a lot about tech, but is never the one making purchases. If I sent her in to buy an HDMI cable, she'd probably go straight to where they are and buy a cheap one, but if she couldn't find them in the store and was under the impression that a 20+ dollar cable that she was brought was the only option, she'd likely buy that one.

Really, shame on the store worker for not asking what brand or price range and just trying to move a ridiculously expensive piece of crap.
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User avatar #80 to #22 - elluboy (12/30/2015) [-]
In Estonia you can´t return an item, if you leave the store with it. 14-day return is only applicable to web store bough items.

My gf knows **** all about technology and we had a huge fight about it, because I told her the price and she still bought the expensive one. Guess I´ll just be smarter in the future, **** happens.
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#23 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
I remember the first time I actually saw someone who didn't know wtf they were doing in a specialised store.
It was when Dance Mats for consoles were like, the latest craze and I overheard some old woman ask this girl 'Do you sell Dance Mats?' and her instant response was 'What's that?' despite having several displays in the middle of the store floor.

Also when I had a problem with the wireless/streetpass on the 3DS, I took it back and this girl was like 'But the green or blue, I forget light's glowing, that means it's working'. Just.. no, that means it's searching but it's not finding anything.

It seems to get a job in there as a female you need to dye your hair some retarded colour, have limitless piercings and punctures but not know anything about what you sell.
If you look respectable and like you might already be dating someone they assume you have no idea what you're talking about.
Neon blue/pink hair apparently indicates that you know loads of **** about videogames.

Yes I'm ******* salty.
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User avatar #30 to #23 - hwaraam (12/29/2015) [-]
Cinism?

My experience tells me this saltiness comes from real world experience 24/7
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#16 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
I work in a tech store for a certain corporate giant.

My specialty is mobile phones.

If someone comes in and says "Can you please help me set up my e-mail/voicemail?" "My phone isn't turning on." or "My internet isn't working." I'll sit and fix their phones for them, and talk them through how to resolve it again if it should happen.

If someone comes in and says "What LTE band does it run on?" "How come this one needs an EXYNOS chipset instead of a Mediatek one" or the like, I normally just give them the shortest answer to get them to leave.

99% of the time, you're not coming in to buy anything. It's because you're either working in a different store and killing time, or because you're like the above picture. If you know what an LTE band is, you damn well know how to google which one each handset uses.

And yeah, what #1 said. You don't receive any formal training on your products. You're just expected to learn them as you go. Sadly, this isn't good enough for the 'hardcore' customers, who are under the impression that
a) This isn't a job, it's a hobby, and we just LOVE people who come in to waste our time.
b) That I'm getting paid an extraordinary amount to do **** all,
c) Other customers can get ****** ,
d) I know everything about every phone ever made ever.

Seriously. If you're one of these guys go and **** yourself.
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#34 - zaheerlover (12/29/2015) [-]
Umm actually if Zaheer-sama was looking for tech support he would
just meditate on Guru-Laghima
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#61 to #34 - fridayhype (12/29/2015) [-]
Decent troll, but your theme is so overdone at this point you're not really going to get too much attention.

You should be more creative. The reason uchiha lover got so much attention was that he did something new, no one's going to care about this **** in 2016.
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#43 to #34 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
[hide all]
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User avatar #63 to #43 - theruinedsage (12/29/2015) [-]
Hide user's comments completely X
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#10 - applescryatnight (12/29/2015) [-]
i know what a linked list is!
does that make me good at computers?
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User avatar #11 to #10 - ironguy (12/29/2015) [-]
no
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#46 to #11 - applescryatnight (12/29/2015) [-]
i can solder cpus, how bout now?
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#70 to #46 - thejusticar (12/29/2015) [-]
you're a god of tech. 10/10 would give grants and a visit to the whitehouse.
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User avatar #3 - craftyatom (12/29/2015) [-]
Linked Lists are the **** . Literally best data structure there is.

"But Crafty, I want quick read/write times, wah" - then stick your List into an array, or turn it into a linked tree, it's not that ******* hard, but Linked Lists will always be the answer.
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#17 to #3 - McDc (12/29/2015) [-]
Actually ArrayList is WAY more commonly used because you want higher speed when indexing a large DB, and the speed of things like remove speed being O(n) can be fixed with a little custom code for empty element marking and a cleaning of the array every now and then similarly to how IdentityHashMap does it(if I remember that correctly).
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#21 to #17 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
Although i don't know much about linked lists, I know as a game programmer that it's almost always an Array List or a Hash Map. Hash Maps can be better because, I mean, hashing algorithms. It depends on what you're trying to do. Linked lists, from what I can tell, appear to be best for storing a large amount of objects, mainly because of it's non-contiguous fashion, whereas arraylists are best for if you need to be iterating repeatedly over a list.

I wish there was a compromise - a list that is easily expandable but also easily iterated - but I'm not sure that's possible. The only thing I can think of is allocating slots of memory - adding a bit of overhead for pointer storage - then simply filling or emptying slots as needed. The allocation algorithm could then aim to allocate contiguous slots, leaving gaps in favor of more contiguous areas. So then to iterate over the entire list, you would iterate over every contiguous stretch of memory allocated to the list, which would be a nice compromise. I feel like the overhead for such an algorithm would just be too expensive, however.
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User avatar #36 to #3 - ronyx (12/29/2015) [-]
Can you explain it as if I had autismo?
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#60 to #36 - craftyatom (12/29/2015) [-]
Sure. I'm assuming your autistic superpower isn't computer science like me.

When you write code, you often need that code to keep data around so it can do things with said data. The simple way of storing the data is to make a "variable", which basically just holds one piece of data.

When it comes to storing multiple pieces of data, though, it gets complicated. Sure, you could make 500 variables, but then what? You have no way of knowing how to find the variable you want, or put the variables in order, or go through each variable exactly once - it would be a complete mess. In order to deal with this, we have data structures, which are basically different ways of organizing all of our variables.

A linked list does this by storing data in "Nodes". Each node is actually two variables - the first one is the piece of data you want to store, and the second tells you the location of the next node. So, to go through all the data, you take a node, read the first piece of information - which gives you the data - then read the second piece, and go to where the second piece tells you, repeat.

It's kinda weird to imagine without having made one - I've included a diagram.
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#75 to #60 - ronyx (12/29/2015) [-]
I understood most of it, does that count?
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User avatar #76 to #75 - craftyatom (12/29/2015) [-]
Eh, it's enough. Chances are that if you don't know much about the subject, you won't have to use it irl.
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#77 to #76 - ronyx (12/29/2015) [-]
Click to show spoiler
Thank,
Pic unrelated
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User avatar #13 to #3 - fatminion ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
I never got that. All my CS friends boasted about linked lists, but us engineers never got it. I mean, a "linked list" is not really a type or fundamental class in any programming langauge, right? You can't go:

var list = new LinkedList();
while(item = list.next()) {
...

right? And we arrays at the core of nearly every programming language, and yes, some languages or libraries extend the functionality of arrays into things like List or ListArray or Collection, but are those then really linked lists? What methods and properties constitute a linked list? Why is it any better than an array? Every CS friend I have is just like "it's better man, trust me" and I'm like "show me" and they never can.

Can you?
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#32 to #13 - jankielftw (12/29/2015) [-]
> You can't go:
> var list = new LinkedList();
> while(item = list.next()) {

Wait, you can't? You can. You call for an iterator and you're done. Foreach is easily done with LinkedList, it's just very bad at getting an element via index.

> Can you?
Challenge accepted.

And use of LinkedList depends on your use case. If you won't be accessing elements via index, but you'll be doing a lot with things like concatenating lists, maybe using them as a queue or heap (pop first item, push last item), then linked lists are way to go. Operations on LinkedList itself (concatenate, delete, add) are very cheap and constant.

With dynamic arrays you just have an allocated array of fixed size. When you need to add more elements the whole array needs to be copied to new, bigger one and that's O(n) operation. If you're pushing many elements to an array that can hurt your performance a lot.

The same goes with deleting elements - you're doing list.delete(0) and now you've a null at 0th index. Dynamic list won't allow that, so every other element is copied one position to the left. With linked list it's just popping one element, it's just easy as swapping two references/pointers.

Warning: it depends on LinkedList implementation. With doubly linked list (every element has a reference to next and previous element) things like concatenation are dead easy. But if you have a classic head & tail style list, then to get last element you need to traverse trough ALL elements of that list.
Standard linked lists from Java and C# are doubly linked, so no worries.
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#72 to #32 - fatminion ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
**fatminion used "*roll picture*"**
**fatminion rolled image***roll picture*ok cool. So basically most languages/libraries implement the linked-list concept into their core collection/list objects? So basically I just don't see what it's doing in the background. I'm mainly a front-end guy, and do a lot with web, so tons of JavaScript (ECMA), but also PHP and Java. PHP just has arrays, but in Java most of our "collections" are defined like:
List <DataObject> myList = ....

and of course I have methods like next(), prev(), last(), first(), and when I iterate with a forEach I can get the index, isLast(), isFirst(), and so on. So I guess it just is a linked-list, but I never actually deal with what's going on behind the scenes.

But in PHP and JavaScript I just have plain old Arrays, and I'm not terribly sure how performant everything is. There are garbage collectors that do stuff, and when I'm working on scripts that iterate over hundreds or thousands of objects in an Array, I sometimes have to call the garbage collector myself to ensure no memory leaks. But most of my tasks are pretty straight-forward and don't require list/collection/array manipulation:

query database or file -> iterate through result list in the order I receive them -> output something based on the results.

And if a user interacts with one or more of the objects, normally it's just as simple as updating the DB with data and primary keys that the user selected.

Thanks for clarifying! Have a thumb and a random picture
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User avatar #71 to #13 - craftyatom (12/29/2015) [-]
To start:
>Arrays are at the core of every programming language
That's because memory is always limited, and you can't insert memory in between existing memory. As much as List-style memory would be great - when you need more, you just tack it onto the end, and you can put elements wherever you like - it's not going to happen. So, languages may as well use arrays at the core because the hardware and compiler are static entities in almost every case.
>Are Lists/ListArrays/Collections Linked Lists?
List and Linked List are pretty much synonymous, they're structures with no set length that can be middle-inserted but have no inherent indexing. ArrayList is generally implemented as a Linked List of Arrays (what Wikipedia refers to as an Unrolled Linked List), and in many cases it gets the best of both worlds, but for some operations it's the worst. Collections are generally just a set of functions on top of some other data structure, which may or may not be a linked list, depending on which language/package you're using.
>Isn't a fundamental type in any language
Java implements linked lists, to name one I know for sure, and I'm sure at least one or two others use it under the hood. However, just because it isn't native to a language doesn't mean there's no point in using it, and part of what people love about it is that it's simple to write despite scaling really well to large data sets. Writing a Linked List, even with special benefits like making it circular, doubly-linked, indexed at points, etc etc, does not take long, and because it's written by you and not the language's developers, you can tailor it exactly to your needs.

So, the wiki page already lists some good benefits, but also lists some downsides. In my opinion, a Linked List is so elegant because when you want to minimize a downside, you can. First off, lookup times. Linked Lists have ****** lookup times, that's basically the worst thing about them. Enter the "Skip List", a Linked List with O(log(n)) lookup times. Here's my implementation: greyhen.net/loglist/ . The main downside is that the data is automatically ordered - but then, if you wanted to look up data in an unordered structure it would almost always take O(n) time anyways. Regarding wasted space, Wikipedia suggests Unrolled Linked Lists, but really, storing booleans/characters in a purpose-built data structure is rarely worth it, IMO. I could be wrong, maybe that's your kinda thing.

Anyways, point is, if you want to optimize your Linked List to do something, you can. You can add insertion overhead to reduce indexing time. You can increase memory usage to reduce a lot of these performance numbers, or vice versa. Which brings us to arrays: you have no control over the weaknesses of an array. Want to insert or delete an element? Not happening, or at least O(n) with some restructuring. Want to move every element up an index? O(n). Not sure how much data you're going to be handling? No can do.

It's not that the benefits of a linked list outweigh those of an array, it's that linked lists let you decide which benefits and weaknesses to have, whereas an array will never really change - unless, that is, you couple it with another data structure.
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User avatar #15 to #14 - fatminion ONLINE (12/29/2015) [-]
yeah, array seems to be the best. Zero wasted space, fastest indexing, and no extra overhead for inserts/replaces/deletes.

HOWEVER....

It seems like the linked-list people are into large data storage, like for memory or hard disk logic. But software engineers and most computer scientists don't have to deal with that because the OS, database and compiler take care of memory allocation and data storage. I as a programmer just have to get that information out and do something with it, then save it back out again. So yeah, if you're programming firmware for experimental hard disks, then go for it! Even then hard disk and memory storage algorithms are more complex than "just use link lists" or whatever.

So yeah, try again, anon. Show me exactly how and why "linked lists" are used otherwise I'll just assume it's a training exercise for first-semester CS majors.
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#79 - zwallace (12/29/2015) [-]
I went into Best Buy the other day looking for a 4k monitor. Their manager showed me a display screen that said 4k and tried to sell it. When I checked it's resolution, however, it only went up to 1080p. All the manager said was that the display wasn't 4k (even though it CLEARLY said 4k on the display information) and tried talking me into buying an overpriced Apple Monitor.
Those ******* not only don't know what they are doing, but they also false advertise their products to the general consumer who knows little to none about tech.
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#81 to #79 - anon (12/31/2015) [-]
**anonymous used "*roll picture*"**
**anonymous rolled image** what a faggot
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#64 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
I can live with the fact the a store employee does not even know the tech they sell. While it's annoying I can live with it, but what really get me is that they pretend to know when they don't. I swear they just make crap up. The worst part is that most of the time it's not even that complicated. They could probably come to the right conclusion by just reading the label on the box .
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User avatar #59 - stickmansam (12/29/2015) [-]
one time i went to radioshack with a friend looking for a DVI to HDMI cable. when i asked the assistant if they had the said cable he said "you mean the red yellow blue to digital chord?". when i told him that was an AVG to HDMI cable, he just looked at me with this glazed over expression. he pointed me over to a section of the store where i found an incredibly over priced cable which was "the best deal around". I just turned and left and ordered one for 2 bucks online. Radio shack is an enormous scam and just takes advantage of people who dont know **** about computers.
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User avatar #62 to #59 - theruinedsage (12/29/2015) [-]
I tried asking for a dmi to vga, or the other way around can't remember which.

Guy literally claimed it didn't exist, and that it was impossible to make one.
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User avatar #41 - samoaspider (12/29/2015) [-]
To be completely honest with ya - the workers at the store don't give a **** about costumers. There is a high chance that if ya walk in and lets say ask for a new laptop - they'll just suggest you one of the most expensive ones they have.

Ya gotta know what you want
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#82 - anon (01/02/2016) [-]
**anonymous used "*roll picture*"**
**anonymous rolled image**TFW you report a bug and the developers are like "Did you install java?"
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#78 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
actually one of the smartest techies ive ever met worked at a micro-center in Cleveland OH...you can probably go there right now and meet him. he works in pc components section in back, has really beady eyes and is super awkward...but he can answer any question about PC's you can come up with off the top of his most of the time...forget his name..i think it was Bryan? Any Cleveland fags here that can confirm?
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User avatar #69 - thejusticar (12/29/2015) [-]
tbh the tech guys at best guy are total scumbags. they rip people off, take advantage of non tech people and are assholes to people that know computer tech. literally the other day when my moms computer stopped working she took it to best buy to have it checked out (note she uses this comp for facebook and youtube thats it.) and he said "yeah you shouldn't use youtube, that site is very infected and will almost always give you viruses even if you don't download" then the bastard turns around and wants to charge her 100$ FOR A REINSTALL OF WINDOWS 10. on a laptop that costs 150$. he then told me after i said "no its not a virus its just corrupt through a messed up update or something" he turns around and said this "no its a virus, most anti virus things can do literally nothing at all once a computer is infected, they can only block sometimes". to me that just drew the line. rant about best buy tech faggot inside. open at your own risk.
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User avatar #68 - emilishous (12/29/2015) [-]
i got a customer who wanted mini jack (aux) to hdmi. and incised that he had seen it in our store before. i hate those customers.
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#67 - thejusticar has deleted their comment [-]
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#56 - anon (12/29/2015) [-]
It would have been quicker for me to drive over and lift the retention arm than to wait for my girlfriend to figure out which one it was.
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User avatar #48 - rockamekishiko (12/29/2015) [-]
I just want them to know the products because i sometimes can't find them and i ask them and they don't even know what it is. Since they don't know what it is, they can't direct me to it.
 
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