Chapter 768: Algorithms and Fantasies of a Magic Computer

As he organized and organized, Xia Duo once again missed the computers on Earth; if only he could have a computer now, how wonderful that would be!

Not to mention anything else, just the data entry alone could save a massive amount of time.

Even those Arcane Geometry diagrams could be analyzed using a computer from Earth.

The algorithms of a computer can, at their root, be traced back to human thought patterns; it is humans who set algorithms according to their own modes of thinking.

Perhaps after countless iterations, they have become infinitely more complex than human thought patterns themselves, but the essence remains unchanged.

The most obvious manifestation of this is that all algorithms can be understood; no matter how complex an algorithm is, as long as someone other than the designer is willing to understand it, they will certainly be able to.

No matter how complex the implementation process of an algorithm is, as long as humans are willing and have enough time, they can certainly arrive at the same result manually.

To a certain extent, computers are not "smarter" than people; they just calculate faster!

Conversely, not all human thought patterns can be converted into algorithms, and computers also have their natural limitations; before Xia Duo transmigrated, parallel computing was an algorithm that was very promising but very difficult to implement.

It usually could only be implemented indirectly.

But analyzing Arcane Geometry diagrams does not require very complex algorithms; in fact, Xia Duo only needs a simple comparison program to allow him to extract data with fixed characteristics from massive amounts of data.

In this way, after repeated multi-dimensional comparisons, it is very easy to establish a simple data model regarding detection signals, and analyzing from above that model has a more commanding perspective.

If Xia Duo were to organize this manually, the results that could be obtained in a few seconds on a computer would truly be a long-drawn-out process.

……

Thinking this way, the more he organized, the more frustrated he felt; knowing of a tool that could save time and effort but being unable to obtain it—how painful that is!

At the same time, he was also very curious about how they handled this massive amount of data over at Giles Tower.

Compared to the data here at the Tower of Time, the data at Giles Tower is the truly massive kind; if there were no efficient processing method, how could they extract useful information from it to improve search efficiency?

Perhaps they had long ago developed specialized theories and technologies (including Spells) to quickly detect and verify the large amount of data from the Plane Exploration Array.

However, the Plane Scholar training materials that Niya brought back to the Tower of Time were very basic and did not contain such technology.

This was just a guess of Xia Duo's, but it was a guess based on reality and one that could possibly be realized; it was indeed very likely to be true.

……

"It looks like I still have to find a way from Giles Tower!"

But the problem is, although the Princess holds a positive and even supportive attitude toward opening up Magic exchanges, this does not mean she would open up her own core technologies without restraint.

Even for Xia Duo, though he wishes he could immediately popularize Magic Education across the board, he has his own scale in his heart.

He distinguishes clearly between what needs to be opened for free, what can be used for exchange, what can be sold for money, what needs to be kept strictly confidential, and what can only be hidden in his own mind.

Like this kind of key technology involving Plane Exploration, he certainly could not tell others; opening up exchanges does not mean handing over one's own bottom line.

On Earth, theory and academics are very open, but technology always has various patent restrictions that cannot be easily crossed.

And in this real Magic world, the boundary between theory and technology is not so clearly defined, so it is even more necessary to be clear-headed.

The Arcane Union's Spell Patent is actually a form of forced trade; once registered, someone must pay, otherwise this mechanism cannot function.

This is also why, after patent registration had stagnated for decades, the appearance of 【Magic Net Background Communication】 could become a sign of breaking the deadlock.

It is because once there is a first one, whether it is purely for profit or because a Mage Tower cannot hold on and needs to live off patent fees, it is a good choice.

Once the opening is made, it is easy to follow up.

But one can imagine, who would be foolish enough to open up those truly core, key, and irreplaceable Spells to everyone?

……

After some wild thoughts, Xia Duo devoted himself heart and soul to data organization; thinking too much would still not get him a computer.

He did remember the content of computer principles from his university days, but the problem was that his major was software engineering, not electronic information engineering which leans toward hardware; he only knew roughly how to build a computer.

Starting from scratch to build a computer without an industrial base was even more clueless.

Additionally, there is another problem: the root of matter in this world is energy, true pure energy, not the kind of energy from the movement of matter on Earth.

The electricity here is truly pure electricity; wind, or rather the air element, excited with Positive Energy is electricity, whereas electricity on Earth, while called energy, actually refers to the movement of electrons.

Furthermore, the enrichment of elements here forms corresponding material states, which is the transformation from pure energy to matter—it is very magical.

But on Earth, even so-called nuclear fusion releasing energy does not release pure energy, but rather radiates it in the form of particles.

It is highly likely that this world does not have things like electrons or atoms, so the electronic computer that Xia Duo was familiar with in the past would have no basis for existence.

He could only apply some concepts of Earth's computers to this world in a localized way, and this again stumped Xia Duo; he certainly could not complete it alone in a short time.

Although there is the saying "a workman must sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well," the process of creating this "sharp tool" would likely take up an ordinary person's entire life; how could Xia Duo possibly do nothing else and just focus on making a computer!

……

Of course, he had not considered nothing at all; a running Magic Array actually fits the prototype of the Magic Computer in Xia Duo's mind quite well.

It has energy Flow, it has different routes, and it can control opening and closing; if he could find some meaningless logical pathways that conform to computational principles, perhaps there might really be a possibility of realization.

The reason it needs to be meaningless is that a Magic Array is a solidified form of energy flowing within the Magic Net String, and "combination of Magic Net Strings" + "energy Flow" is actually a specific Spell.

Almost any operation on the Magic Net String will trigger the energy within it, thereby exciting a Spell, but the vast majority of Spells are expressed in the form of elements and do not possess practical value.

Using a circuit as a metaphor, it is like a leakage.

In that case, it would be very difficult to use as a computer; even without considering the problem of energy leakage, one must also consider the problem of energy consumption.