Quantum Computing: A Beginner’s Notes and Overview of IBM's Quantum Experience

The enthusiasm! I love it. However...

I remember reading a post from Algorithmic Assertions[1] which gave a wonderful example of the use of intuition in designing/transforming a quantum circuit. He walks through every step, starting with a simple swap circuit and ending with a proof of quantum teleportation. It was kind of magical to see all the tricks used. Inserting CNOTS in order to optimize out certain gates? Knowing that controlled-Z gates are equivalent if flipped around? Transposing H gates with X or Z gates to turn an X into a Z and vice versa?

I stress the importance of the steps here, because if your goal is to be able to build fancy quantum scores, it isn't enough, most likely, to just read the Beginner's guide and grok Shor's algorithm -- it's really important to have the intuition needed to write your own algorithms. It is exactly like learning how to code again.

[1]: http://algassert.com/post/1628