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> Understanding for loops and if statements are pre requisites for many tools. Why is understanding some basic algebra, completely unreasonable. That's a slipp
by incepted 11y ago
> Understanding for loops and if statements are pre requisites for many tools. Why is understanding some basic algebra, completely unreasonable.
That's a slippery slope. When you are staring at a huge stack of accumulated knowledge, you need to decide when you can start ignoring the details past a certain level.
It's not required to know assembly to write code in a modern language, but it helps. It shouldn't be required to know category theory to write code in a modern language either.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- domlebo70 11y agoI hear you. I wouldn't say you need to understand any cat theory. Just be able to read types, and you are fine. Problem is, people aren't used to that,
- AzzieElbab 11y agoBut cats and scalaz are based/implement category theory concepts. You would only use either library if you understand what they do and why you need them. Otherwise, it is like using OpenCV to search through database and then complain about complexity and overhead
- jowiar 11y agoThe problem, though, is the context. The article I linked presented the assorted category theory tools as things the community 'really should be using'. And doing that has an effect, in that it increases the number of concepts that a person needs to grok to be a functioning member of the community -- to be able to dive into open-source code, discuss code with other participants, etc. Adding concepts should only happen when it's clear that the benefits are larger than the costs -- not just for the individual, but for the community. It requires far less knowledge to dive into a Ruby or JS codebase than it does a Scala codebase. And adding "category theory" as a necessary prereq for being part of the Scala community just makes things incredibly exclusive.
- bgar 11y agoThe thing is, the basics of abstract algebra are easy to grasp, and you don't need to spend a lifetime studying; it takes a couple hours to get started with these simple (but powerful) concepts.
- incepted 11y agoI think you don't realize it's a lot harder than that. Easy to grasp for whom? A first grader? Sixth grader? Twelfth grader? College undergrad? Any specialty or only CS? Or grad level required? You've forgotten how long it took you to get comfortable with abstract algebra, it's a lot more complex to grasp than you think.
- bgar 11y agoWhy would someone in elementary or middle school need to learn that though? I think anyone in high school could easily learn a bit of abstract algebra.
- AzzieElbab 11y agoWhat would you suggest? Banning everyone who likes functional programming off the internet, so they do not post thing about things that you do not like? To be fair, I have seen very few projects that use scalaz or cats.