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It might help the programmer but confuse the quantum physicist or algebraic topologist. It’s an interdisciplinary field and we do our best (well, I’m out of it
by catgary 2y ago
It might help the programmer but confuse the quantum physicist or algebraic topologist. It’s an interdisciplinary field and we do our best (well, I’m out of it so it’s not really “we” anymore). The abstract differentiation stuff that makes up the backbone here also gets used in homotopy theory and is applied to algebraic geometry.
- incrudible 2y agoI doubt that the average quantum physicist would have a better time with the jargon of category theory than the programmer. If you want to say something to people, you need to speak their language. > The abstract differentiation stuff that makes up the backbone here also gets used in homotopy theory and is applied to algebraic geometry. I should certainly hope so!
- catgary 2y agoLook, I agree that someone pitching category theory to programmers should make more of an effort to introduce terms/use common language when possible. And you can look at Gordon Plotkin’s papers to find some good, hard CS papers that take the time to work out examples relating things to structures familiar to a programmer. But there’s the reality that CT is an interdisciplinary field, and you will have topologists working with computer scientists and they’ll often be actively disinterested in each other’s fields. Imposing your jargon or notation on your coauthors from other fields is hardly a great way to foster collaboration.