Quantum Computing’s Journey To Mainstream

Organizations today are increasingly turning toward quantum computing to optimize their business growth and performance. Quantum computers could deliver breakthroughs in speed and accuracy, with applications including areas such as drug discovery, aerospace design, materials modeling, molecular modeling, and financial trading. Quantum computers are based on the physics of the smallest units of matter and energy to perform calculations. While in common use today, classical computers require large amounts of power and space to store or share data. Quantum computers leverage two unique features — entanglement and superposition — to solve complex computational problems that cannot be solved on today’s classical computers.

A Simplified, Nontechnical Guide About Classical Computing

To truly understand the evolution of computational power, it’s helpful to start by taking a look at how classical computers work. Classical computers are based on binary code (written in either 0s or 1s) and use bits (calculations) to solve problems. Let’s say you want to find out who your Facebook friends are that live in Los Angeles. Your computer would need to process an enormous amount of data — your friend list, their cities of residence, etc. — to produce an answer for you. This would require a huge number of bits, as it would have to search through each one individually before reaching a result.