Re: Dumbing down?
- From: wrf3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bob Felts)
- Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 08:56:30 -0400
Barry Margolin <barmar@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <1hymn39.4tfo17apzp9iN%wrf3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
wrf3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bob Felts) wrote:
Jeff Rollin <jeffrey.rollin@xxxxxxxxx> 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?
Probably because it isn't. The ability to write well is far more
important than knowledge of mathematics.
However, the kind of logical and precise thinking that you learn when
writing mathematical proofs is very similar, IMHO, to what you do when
programming.
Which is kinda like planning an essay. You have to choose a topic,
determine the points you wish to make and arrange those points in a
logical progression.
So while you don't need to know things like calculus or differential
equations (unless the applications you're writing happen to involve
them), other areas of mathematics provide a good foundation for the
thought processes required.
Logical thought processes are needed in all kinds of disciplines; not
just math.
.
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