Real life programmer

:D https://stackoverflow.com/questions...

xD but this is a legit problem I face every week. ;)

Best sock decision I've made is to buy 10 pairs of white socks and 10 pairs black. The other 'fun' ones I had are easily noticable from the bunch and the boring ones are paired effortlessly too.
But yeah.. fun theoretical problem.

@PRein all black socks is an easier solution 😂😂😂 it helps also when one of the socks is destroyed with holes or even lost

Best solution:
1) Buy lots of interesting socks
2) don't care about pairing and store them separately
3) pick whichever socks you like!

Works like a charm (:
Usually works out to O(n/8), too.

@Ashkin Isn't this just the good old O(1)?

Where's the joke? He's made a valid argument. I think i just might cancel my date tonight to code this

i first sort by color. that is done fast. after that i sort by size to seperate my socks from my girlfriend's. then i do a quick search for matching pairs. the remaining socks are stored seperately in a "too lazy to do that shit - box" if i ever run out of socks before washing day i have to find a matching pair out of the box.

@gberginc Not quite since picking socks that go together can take some effort.

While pink polka dot and cute kitten socks are an okay pair, kitten and sushi socks go together better!

I normally pick up a random sock, and then another, if they are not the same type I will check if its a left or right sock. Then lay them left and right from me.
Pick another two socks see if its the same id not sperate in left right.
If you put down the left sock check the right socks and see if its the same. Same with the right sock.

This basically only works well if most sock pairs are the same.

@Codex404 left/right socks? What?

@Ashkin feet are build both a little different (mirrored). pinky toe is shorter than your big toe whivh will result in leftover space in your normal sock. Left and right socks dont have this space, fit better and are more comfy.
Since the front part of my feet is really wide and the back part is really small its a pain to find shoes that fit. When I find a shoe that fits its just barely and any leftover sock space can ruin that.