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I've never used Prolog in the 15 years since I learned it in college. It's an interesting take on programming, for sure, and I appreciated the mind-expanding ex
by bdamm 7y ago
I've never used Prolog in the 15 years since I learned it in college. It's an interesting take on programming, for sure, and I appreciated the mind-expanding exercise, but hasn't helped me in my career at all.
Totally agree on awk. I use it almost every day for quick little one-liners. Big time saver.
Also agree on state machines, because from there it is a short hop to understanding formal grammars and the foundation of compilers and languages, which has been immensely useful in my career.
- doboyy 7y agoLearning about automata theory was one of the most mind-expanding experiences I had in college. It was certainly not something I would've stumbled upon without guidance. I believe that describes most of the value I derived from a degree, being nudged in the right directions toward solutions and problems that a lot of smart people have though about for a while. Understanding how different languages, or inputs more generally, can be transformed into meaningful outputs is pretty satisfying. It's a topic that almost seems to transcend the realm of computer science.
- enkiv2 7y agoThe best thing you can do for your career is learn things that don't apply to your career. After all, it's impossible to predict unknown unknowns, which makes accidentally having already learned something nobody else valued enough to pick up the most valuable skill.