A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.
Special 10th anniversary edition of WHAT IF?—revised and annotated with brand-new illustrations and answers to important questions you never thought to ask—coming from November 2024. Preorder here!
My Hobby:
Embedding NP-Complete problems in restaurant orders
[[A menu is shown]]
Chotchkies Retaurant
Appetizers
Mixed Fruit 2.15
French Fries 2.75
Side Salad 3.35
Hot Wings 3.55
Mozzarella Sticks 4.20
Sampler Plate 5.80
[[Three people sit at a table. One man at the table is ordering from a waiter]]
Man at table: We'd like exactly $15.05 worth of appetizers, please.
Waiter: ... Exactly? Uhh ...
Man at table: Here, these papers on the knapsack problem might help you out.
Waiter: Listen, I have six other tables to get to -
Man at table: - As fast as possible, of course. Want something on traveling salesman?
{{title text: General solutions get you a 50% tip.}}
xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.