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Physical devices can be modeled with math, they are not however mathematics itself. "Programming languages" are in reality nothing more than fancy mathematical
by burgerbrain 15y ago
Physical devices can be modeled with math, they are not however mathematics itself.
"Programming languages" are in reality nothing more than fancy mathematical notations. Conversion to more traditional notations, such as lambda calculus, is so trivial that any computer science undergrad can do it.
To put it bluntly, algorithms are no less math than the Pythagorean Theorem.
- Dn_Ab 15y agoI would suggest a clearer example to be long division or euclid's method. Or that software is like stating the Pythagorean theorem and then proving it constructively. This way the process of what goes on when writing code is better captured in how it relates to math.
- burgerbrain 15y agoGreat point, thanks.
- oelewapperke 15y agoOf course, neither of those are considered math themselves. The concepts behind them are certainly math. But these algorithms are more like models that only imperfectly match the concepts. Long division only applies to a very small subset of the things you can divide. Euclid's algorithm is only useful for the trivial natural number case in N (whereas the real fun these days is to be had in Zn, where Euclid fails to function correctly. It has false positives) Btw: there's a few dozen ways to do what people call "long-division".