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patternModerate

Why is proving something is NP-complete useful, and where can I use it?

Submitted by: @import:stackexchange-cs··
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provingwhycanwherecompleteusefulandusesomething

Problem

I trying to understand where, as a programmer in situations where it can be good to do a
NP-complete reduction to prove that a problem is NP-complete, why is it good to do that as a programmer? I don't understand.

Solution

When dealing with a problem, knowing how to recognize a $\mathsf{NP}$-hard problem can prevent you from hair loss trying to find an efficient solution (as it is thought that $\mathsf{P}\neq \mathsf{NP}$).

Reductions can also be seen in a "If I know how to solve $A$, then I know how to solve $B$" way.

When confronted to a $\mathsf{NP}$-hard problem, you can then think of ways to deal with intractability.

Context

StackExchange Computer Science Q#155088, answer score: 18

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