28 Feb 2010

DAGs vs Trees

posted by Robby Findler

As I wondering whether or not there is a better layout algorithm for the module browser window, I looked into tree maps. Of course, the modules in a program form a DAG, not a tree, so I wondered just how big the tree would get if all of the shared structure in the DAG were replicated. Hey, I figured, if a tree map can handle showing me my entire filesystem, maybe that could work.

… yeah, no. Turns out to be hopeless. In the spirit of a geeky take off on a jelly bean counting contest, lets see if you can guess just how big these things get. Consider the module graph from the program #lang scheme (ie, the graph that just contains an empty program). This program loads 170 modules with 917 connections between modules (counting the main file that just contains the #lang scheme).

So, the question: how many nodes are there in the unsharified tree? First one to come within 1 billion of the right answer gets all of the fame and glory that this blog brings to bear (har har). I’ll post the answer in the comments in a few days (and no fair cheating, those of you that know enough to be able to get your hands on the DAG).


Okay, I’ll give it a go on the scale you indicate: … 282 billion? (9^12)

Kohath, 1 March 2010


Sadly, not close. Lets make this easier. If you’re within a trillion of the correct answer, you win.

Robby, 2 March 2010


There are 102,295,446,100,979 nodes. Which is a lot. If we somehow used only a single pixel per node (at the standard 72dpi) that would require a monitor that was more that 2 miles square to display the entire thing.

Robby, 3 March 2010


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