Quantum computing is based on the system of quantum mechanics. In quantum computing, we perform operations over qubits instead of bits. A qubit is a vector, which can take on many more values than 0 or 1. The technology used to implement quantum computers is advancing such that it has its own Moore’s Law, but it can also leverage the classical advancements of Moore’s Law.

If classical computing advances at the exponential pace of 2^n, quantum computing advances at the pace of 2^2^n.

Quantum computing will advance technology in ways that will take us by surprise. If things feel like they are moving fast now, just wait until developers have access to quantum processing units. Machine learning, simulated chemical synthesis, and NP-complete problems are ripe for quantum computers.

Vijay Pande is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a board member at Rigetti Computing, a quantum computer company. In this episode, we explored what software engineers today need to know about quantum computers and some of the application domains that developers will be working on as quantum computers become available.

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