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Do you have the same reaction to math in code form? I think I often don’t have the patience to expand things like symbols and ranges in my head in the case of m

by Tarq0n 5y ago

Do you have the same reaction to math in code form? I think I often don’t have the patience to expand things like symbols and ranges in my head in the case of mathematical notation, but math-as-code doesn’t require the same effort.

Fnoord 5y ago
I have the same with code. I only read or write simple stuff. I used to like mathematics on school, until I just couldn't follow it anymore. It got me hot (physically), with headache akin to migraine. Which gotten worse throughout the years I studied. Now I tend to avoid such state. Its not worth the hassle. There's a couple of professions/qualities I have a lot of respect for, mathematicians is one of them. I appreciate them for three reasons: their ability to deal with the sheer complexity correctly and calmly, the fact it is unbiased, like science used to be (or rather: a couple of sciences aren't). The third reason is the one outlined above, generally: its a quality I've been unable to possess.
dekhn 5y ago
I struggle with math notation but have no trouble with math written as code (C, python functions....). It took me years to be able to see a summation as a for loop.
- BeetleB 5y ago
  Amusingly, I'm somewhat the opposite - math written as code takes a lot more parsing to understand. And with regards to for loops, I'll quote something I read a long time ago: > “When you see a for, while, or do, all you know is that some kind of loop is coming up. To acquire even the faintest idea of what that loop does, you have to examine it. Not so with algorithms. Once you see a call to an algorithm, the name alone sketches the outline of what it does.”[0] It's why in my last C++ job, I spent a lot of time convincing colleagues to use more of the functions in the algorithms library - so that it's easier to see what they're trying to do, and less likely to insert a bug. Consider languages that have the ~sum~ function. Would you recommend they instead write a for loop? If not, just replace ~sum~ with the Sigma symbol and you have the mathematical notation. [0] http://www.drdobbs.com/stl-algorithms-vs-hand-written-loops/184401446 http://www.drdobbs.com/stl-algorithms-vs-hand-written-loops/...

by Tarq0n 5y ago

Fnoord 5y ago

I have the same with code. I only read or write simple stuff. I used to like mathematics on school, until I just couldn't follow it anymore. It got me hot (physically), with headache akin to migraine. Which gotten worse throughout the years I studied. Now I tend to avoid such state. Its not worth the hassle. There's a couple of professions/qualities I have a lot of respect for, mathematicians is one of them. I appreciate them for three reasons: their ability to deal with the sheer complexity correctly and calmly, the fact it is unbiased, like science used to be (or rather: a couple of sciences aren't). The third reason is the one outlined above, generally: its a quality I've been unable to possess.

dekhn 5y ago

I struggle with math notation but have no trouble with math written as code (C, python functions....). It took me years to be able to see a summation as a for loop.

BeetleB 5y ago
Amusingly, I'm somewhat the opposite - math written as code takes a lot more parsing to understand. And with regards to for loops, I'll quote something I read a long time ago: > “When you see a for, while, or do, all you know is that some kind of loop is coming up. To acquire even the faintest idea of what that loop does, you have to examine it. Not so with algorithms. Once you see a call to an algorithm, the name alone sketches the outline of what it does.”[0] It's why in my last C++ job, I spent a lot of time convincing colleagues to use more of the functions in the algorithms library - so that it's easier to see what they're trying to do, and less likely to insert a bug. Consider languages that have the ~sum~ function. Would you recommend they instead write a for loop? If not, just replace ~sum~ with the Sigma symbol and you have the mathematical notation. [0] http://www.drdobbs.com/stl-algorithms-vs-hand-written-loops/184401446 http://www.drdobbs.com/stl-algorithms-vs-hand-written-loops/...