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> You need automata theory... Turing-completeness... PDAs and FSAs... Why? I know that stuff inside and out, and across multiple jobs I have used none of it

by jholman 10y ago

> You need automata theory... Turing-completeness... PDAs and FSAs... Why? I know that stuff inside and out, and across multiple jobs I have used none of it ever. What chance to use this favourite bit of my education did I miss? (Or rather, might I have missed, so that you might speak to the general case) > You need to know how to compile a high-level language down to an RTL. Why? Same comment as above. > You need to understand what a fixed point is and why it matters. Well, I don't, and I don't. I request a pointer to suitable study material, noting that googling this mostly points me to a mathematical definition which I suspect is related to, but distinct from, the definition you had in mind. Otherwise... as I read down this thread I was all ready to disagree with you, but it turns out I'd jumped to a false conclusion, based on the SICP context of this thread. Literacy, what a pain in the butt. In particular, the idea that ((the notion of an environment) is a fundamental/foundational concept) is a new idea to me, and immediately compelling. I did not learn this in my academic training, learned it since, and have found it be very fruitful. Likewise with lexical vs dynamic binding, actually.

lisper 10y ago
>> You need automata theory... Turing-completeness... PDAs and FSAs... > Why? So you can write parsers. To give a real-world example, so you can know immediately why trying to parse HTML with a regular expression can't possibly work. >> You need to know how to compile a high-level language down to an RTL. >Why? So that when your compiler screws up you can look at its output, figure out what it did wrong, and fix it. >> You need to understand what a fixed point is and why it matters. > Well, I don't, and I don't. I request a pointer to suitable study material http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... Particularly lectures 2A and 7A.

by jholman 10y ago

lisper 10y ago

>> You need automata theory... Turing-completeness... PDAs and FSAs... > Why? So you can write parsers. To give a real-world example, so you can know immediately why trying to parse HTML with a regular expression can't possibly work. >> You need to know how to compile a high-level language down to an RTL. >Why? So that when your compiler screws up you can look at its output, figure out what it did wrong, and fix it. >> You need to understand what a fixed point is and why it matters. > Well, I don't, and I don't. I request a pointer to suitable study material http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... Particularly lectures 2A and 7A.