I agree that that would be a more appropriate phrase. However, I can also understand what the author is getting at when they say "computation first", "mathemat

I agree that that would be a more appropriate phrase. However, I can also understand what the author is getting at when they say "computation first", "mathematics second." Here they are using the layperson's notion of "mathematics" as a bunch of a Greek symbols detached from concrete meaning. Of course, the layperson's notion is wrong, but nonetheless if that's how people think I can see why the author would try to communicate in their terms. Real mathematics can of course be described with Greek letters, English sentences, or computer code - it's all the same mathematics! The more experience you have in mathematical thinking the more you understand why using a "bunch of Greek letters" is actually easier than English sentences or computer code, but the layperson with limited mathematical experience doesn't grasp that, so they want to learn in code or plain English.