I like the idea of math being a fiction, but the difference between math and novel is that in math you can never ever break the rules once they're set. In contr

I like the idea of math being a fiction, but the difference between math and novel is that in math you can never ever break the rules once they're set. In contrast, I see that novelists constantly ignore or retrofit the rules to make it interesting. Imagine this was allowed in math! I also think that the fascinating part of programming is that it's sitting in between math and fiction, depending on an application. Sometimes you have to obey the rules very strictly (e.g. writing a parser), but in other times you can be wildly imaginative (e.g. designing UI).