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As a software developer, there isn't a single programming concept / architecture / algorithm / etc that I can't learn in less than a day. That's quite a bold c

As a software developer, there isn't a single programming concept / architecture / algorithm / etc that I can't learn in less than a day. That's quite a bold claim.

palish 16y ago
At this point, I have >10 years of programming experience. I've been programming for the majority of my childhood and the entirety of my adult life. I don't like to overestimate my own abilities, and I wish I could prove to you that my above claim is true. I simply have enough experience where I know for a fact that I can understand 99% of algorithms and architectures that were designed to solve a practical real-world problem. So you're right, "there isn't a single..." is probably pushing it. But I'd definitely stand by the fact that I can read, understand, and re-implement 99% of algorithms or architectures. My point is simply that the breadth of the field of software engineering apparently pales in comparison to that of mathematics. Or rather --- it's very strange to me that if you are an expert in a given branch of mathematics, then all of your lifetime of experiences cannot be applied to an entirely different branch. If I understand cperciva correctly, if you want to learn a particular specialized branch of mathematics, then you basically have to start from the ground-up (years). It would basically be equivalent to wiping your memory of all programming knowledge, then re-learning it all, in terms of effort. It's just strange / interesting that mathematics works that way.
- spuz 16y ago
  You are basically saying you could re-write the H.254 codec just by studying it for one day? Sure you might be able to learn some of the image compression tricks that it uses by reading the spec but to implement it efficiently requires deep understanding of hardware architecture, instruction pipelines, bit-twiddling algorithms and dare I say it, mathematics. You are right that mathematics is unique in being an infinitely broad subject. Programming as a subject is like medicine in that it is constrained by the real world. However, I don't know about you but I'm not going to trust a radiologist to perform surgery because he's 'understood' the concepts in one day.
  - toodlestech 16y ago
    Since when are video codecs reprogrammed for each specific hardware instruction pipelines? You don't need the skills/knowledge that you rattled off to re-write the h.254 codec, not that that makes it any easier.
KevinMS 16y ago
I think I'll allow this statement. He mentioned he's a "developer", and from his point of view, (and mine), the field of practical programming knowledge is pretty limited. So he could roll up to a Barnes and Noble, pick up most any book and learn the concepts in it no problem. But on the other hand, couldn't P=NP be considered "programming concept" itself? But on the third hand, maybe once its figured out, it will be a concept he could learn in a day.

As a software developer, there isn't a single programming concept / architecture / algorithm / etc that I can't learn in less than a day. That's quite a bold claim.

palish 16y ago

At this point, I have >10 years of programming experience. I've been programming for the majority of my childhood and the entirety of my adult life. I don't like to overestimate my own abilities, and I wish I could prove to you that my above claim is true. I simply have enough experience where I know for a fact that I can understand 99% of algorithms and architectures that were designed to solve a practical real-world problem. So you're right, "there isn't a single..." is probably pushing it. But I'd definitely stand by the fact that I can read, understand, and re-implement 99% of algorithms or architectures. My point is simply that the breadth of the field of software engineering apparently pales in comparison to that of mathematics. Or rather --- it's very strange to me that if you are an expert in a given branch of mathematics, then all of your lifetime of experiences cannot be applied to an entirely different branch. If I understand cperciva correctly, if you want to learn a particular specialized branch of mathematics, then you basically have to start from the ground-up (years). It would basically be equivalent to wiping your memory of all programming knowledge, then re-learning it all, in terms of effort. It's just strange / interesting that mathematics works that way.

spuz 16y ago
You are basically saying you could re-write the H.254 codec just by studying it for one day? Sure you might be able to learn some of the image compression tricks that it uses by reading the spec but to implement it efficiently requires deep understanding of hardware architecture, instruction pipelines, bit-twiddling algorithms and dare I say it, mathematics. You are right that mathematics is unique in being an infinitely broad subject. Programming as a subject is like medicine in that it is constrained by the real world. However, I don't know about you but I'm not going to trust a radiologist to perform surgery because he's 'understood' the concepts in one day.
- toodlestech 16y ago
  Since when are video codecs reprogrammed for each specific hardware instruction pipelines? You don't need the skills/knowledge that you rattled off to re-write the h.254 codec, not that that makes it any easier.

KevinMS 16y ago

I think I'll allow this statement. He mentioned he's a "developer", and from his point of view, (and mine), the field of practical programming knowledge is pretty limited. So he could roll up to a Barnes and Noble, pick up most any book and learn the concepts in it no problem. But on the other hand, couldn't P=NP be considered "programming concept" itself? But on the third hand, maybe once its figured out, it will be a concept he could learn in a day.