Re: Dumbing down?
In the last episode, on Friday 25 May 2007 00:17, Ken Tilton wrote:
Jeff Rollin wrote:
In the last episode, on Thursday 24 May 2007 21:00, Ken Tilton wrote:
Jeff Rollin wrote:
A friend (who should know better than I) and myself both agree that an
understanding of maths is necessary to be able to program.
So why do so many introductory textbooks insist that it isn't?
Sorry, point of information: you and your friend agreeing on X has
exactly what power over X's truth?
hth,kt
Heh. As I've already had to admit, that was a lousy metric to have
started out with.
A better question might be, "what are the arguments for and against a
good understanding of maths being necessary to programming?
The better question definitely is: where the h*ll do you (and a friend
who should know better than I) even /see/ maths in programming?!
Suppose I hack up a little finite state machine to help me come to grips
with a hairy little bit of functionality (IPC over a mechanism where
either party can be expected to go South at the most awkward of times).
Is that math? Asking, not arguing.
kt
Good counterexample.
Jeff
.
Relevant Pages
- Re: what to do after "Touretzkeys book"?
... Check out Practicle Common Lisp as it will give you ... CLOS, but it is another powerful tool and worth learning in the long ... maths is probably very beneficial, but I know quite a few programmers ... Programming series, while based on an abstract assembly style language ...
(comp.lang.lisp) - Re: Dumbing down?
... The words mathematics and computing are right next to each other in that sentence. ... Al-Khwa-rizmi-, the Persian astronomer and mathematician, wrote a treatise in Arabic in 825 AD, On Calculation with Hindu Numerals, which was translated into Latin in the 12th century as Algoritmi de numero Indorum, which title was likely intended to mean "Algoritmi on the numbers of the Indians", where "Algoritmi" was the translator's rendition of the author's name; but people misunderstanding the title treated Algoritmi as a Latin plural and this led to the word "algorithm" coming to mean "calculation method". ... But word proximity in sentences on Wikipedia, etymology, and aquatic arguments aside, I seems to me that mathematics comes up in programming in realms other than just numerical analysis, cryptography, digital signal processing, financial software, physics engines for gaming, rocket science at the JPL, programs to teach algebra, etc. ... So, yes, I think that maths can help one be a better programmer but I don't think that there is some kind of cause-effect relationship whereby maths implies programming. ...
(comp.lang.lisp) - Re: Dumbing down?
... like the proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem or inductive reasoning? ... circumstances beyond my control and due to the way maths is taught in this ... and decided I'd like to understand how they worked and try some programming. ... in maths skill. ...
(comp.lang.lisp) - Re: Maths software
... but merely as an aid to my own understanding of certain concepts. ... >> sorry I cannot be more specific, for I am just getting back into maths, ... > maths class rooms for you to rely heavily on them. ...
(uk.education.maths) - Re: NEWBIE QUESTION: "DSP For Scientists and Engineers." No Maths?
... What has DSP got to do with programming a processor? ... when you start to get a grip on the kind of maths commonly performed ... though I was one of those engineers who went into ...
(comp.dsp) |
|
