Other Quantum Algorithms

Shor's algorithm is not the only algorithm that seems to be better on a quantum computer than any classical computer for a problem which is considered to be useful. In 1994 L. K. Grover, also of Bell Labs, devised an algorithm to find an item in an unsorted list of $N$ elements in $.758\sqrt{N}$ operations. No classical algorithm can guarantee finding the item in less than $N$ operations, and in the average case it would take $N/2$ operations. (Grover)