Re: Interesting article by Joel Spolsky: The Perils of JavaSchools

In article <slrndsd5o2.2b86.willem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Willem <willem@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>wooks wrote:
>) If I need to sum all the elements in the list for example the ordering
>) makes not a jot of difference does it.
>
>This doesn't mean there is no ordering. Besides, it determines the order
>in which the elements are summed. The only reason it doesn't influence the
>outcome is because summing happens to be commutative and transitive
>(Or whatever it is called in English).

(I think the words you want are "commutative and associative".)

Nitpick #1: In the ideal world of mathematics, addition is both
commutative and associative. In the not-so-ideal world of computing,
that's not always the case -- for example, consider floating-point
addition.

[ snip ]

>) If I want to append to the list/set the ordering makes not a jot of
>) difference does it.

Nitpick #2 (not particularly related to the post, but something that's
been nagging at me): Doesn't the usual definition of "set" specifically
exclude duplicate elements? So it doesn't seem quite right to say that
a set and an unordered list are in some sense equivalent, does it?

[ snip ]

>But then your 'list' is not the same anymore as an everyday list.
>In a list, one thing comes after another. All lists have an ordering.
>It might be that the ordering is not significant, but that doesn't mean
>you can claim it doesn't exist.

This seems like a key point -- the ordering exists, but may not be
significant.

[ snip ]

--
| B. L. Massingill
| ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.
.

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