DFS
by Jeff
Image text: A breadth-first search makes a lot of sense for dating in general, actually; it suggests dating a bunch of people casually before getting serious, rather than having a series of five-year relationships one after the other.
This comic has to do with two different types of search algorithms in computer science. Depth-first search or DFS as the title implies. In this algorithm, the search agent will go through the first option as deep as it goes before moving onto the next item or option. In the comic, the character searches 50 deep into the Medical Emergency -> Snakebite option and didn't have enough time to get ready for the date.
In a breath-first search, the search agent will check each item in each level first before moving to the next one, just as the image text suggests.
Whoops, looks like LD50 is median lethal dose, not a computer science term. Thanks to commenter TCs for the link.
July 6th, 2010
where do you get the “searches 50 deep”?
July 6th, 2010
He misunderstood LD50 as a search depth.
July 7th, 2010
Whoops, I’ve updated the post, thanks. Sometimes I guess I have to take my CS hat off…
July 12th, 2010
Did anyone notice that briefly, in the last panel, the guy had no hair. Maybe I imagined it.
August 5th, 2010
No you did not — there are copies “out there” which still have the last panel where he had no hair — and there were lots of people asking whther that was part of the joke