Programming can be algebraic or a basic application of logic depending on how imperative you lean but algebraic thinking does help code. The best way to teach

Programming can be algebraic or a basic application of logic depending on how imperative you lean but algebraic thinking does help code. The best way to teach someone who knows algebra but is new to programming how to not excessively repeat themselves and to use functions is to tell them to factor out the commonalities. This analogy to factoring in algebra really helps someone who understands the concept but hasn't grokked its application to programming yet.