Everyone's heard about quantum computers - how they'll be able to solve every computational problem in the blink of an eye, decrypting every coded message, and spilling our secrets across the internet. That’s if they ever get delivered: for all the talk, nobody seems able to construct a working quantum computer. So is the whole idea nothing more than fairy dust?

Actually, quantum computers do exist, and we can use them to run real algorithms. Within a few years, quantum computers are going to be a useful part of the programmer’s armoury, routinely solving problems in optimisation, recognition, machine learning, and simulation that no other technology can handle.

(Optionally) Quantum computers are worth studying now because they’re just about ready for commoditisation and large-scale adoption, in the same way that AI systems are now being commoditised. And the kind of techniques that are used to tame uncertainty in quantum systems can also be used to tame unreliability in networks of conventional computers.

This session explains what a quantum computer is, why it is so different from a conventional computer, and how we design quantum algorithms. It will explore and implement a number of classical algorithms, and discuss how to design new algorithms.

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to apply quantum computing techniques to your own real-world problems.