Should Devs know how maths works?
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This is a joke, right?
"I just exchanged opinions with my boss. I went in with mine and came out with his." - me, 2011 ---
I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins - Mr. Spock 1935 and me 2011CDP1802 wrote:
This is a joke, right?
Nope! :-D Danny
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
I'm interested, but seeing as it wouldn't really benefit my current job (which tends to be dealing with users asking questions, deploying things and going to meetings 95% of the time and very little coding or design, plus I keep hearing murmurings that mean I might soon be forced to work with sharepoint), I never end up going into the low-level side that much. Shame really as it's the inner workings that interest me more. In these days of 8-core CPUs of which the busiest core is typically never more than 2% busy under normal use, I'd guess there aren't many situations that call for that kind of thing anymore though.
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
Danny Martin wrote:
but how many devs know how they work it out?
Ideally a dev would learn to do additions in a different representation than decimal.
Danny Martin wrote:
How many care? Should we know?
It's not required knowledge for the average LOB-app. One can work with dates for years without knowing what an epoch is, or the difference between a directory and a folder.
Danny Martin wrote:
If you know, how did you find out
The Library :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss:
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
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Danny Martin wrote:
but how many devs know how they work it out?
Ideally a dev would learn to do additions in a different representation than decimal.
Danny Martin wrote:
How many care? Should we know?
It's not required knowledge for the average LOB-app. One can work with dates for years without knowing what an epoch is, or the difference between a directory and a folder.
Danny Martin wrote:
If you know, how did you find out
The Library :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss:
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CDP1802 wrote:
This is a joke, right?
Nope! :-D Danny
What will be the next question, then? Perhaps you could ask some fishermen if they regard knowledge about fish and steering a boat as important. Or ask your reverend wether or not anything written in the Bible is important to him :) Seriously, I was almost moved to tears when our intern (Mr. Framework himself) looked at a hex dump and saw no connection at all to that '1 and 0 stuff'.
"I just exchanged opinions with my boss. I went in with mine and came out with his." - me, 2011 ---
I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins - Mr. Spock 1935 and me 2011 -
Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
I learned it in one of my Freshman/Sophomore level CS classes. My lecturer for the class didn't know that 0.1 (decimal) was a repeating decimal in binary. :doh: After the lecture I had to demonstrate it by working the division longhand through 2 or 3 repeats and then by converting the repeating decimal back into a fraction.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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Eddy Vluggen wrote:
the difference between a directory and a folder.
Interesting. Is this ironical or is there any difference between a directory or a folder ? I thought these were exchangeable.
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Eddy Vluggen wrote:
the difference between a directory and a folder.
Interesting. Is this ironical or is there any difference between a directory or a folder ? I thought these were exchangeable.
Rage wrote:
Is this ironical...
I think the difference is 'Iconical'... ;P Danny
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
Although "knowing" how a computer does stuff (math, calculations, etc..) is nice, unless you need to know this stuff it doesn't really mean anything to the average developer/programmer. I learned a lot of this in College but have forgotten most of it over the years because I have never needed it...at all. I think "knowing" this stuff is on a personal level...do you care to know it. My thoughts on the subject. :)
-- ** You don't hire a handyman to build a house, you hire a carpenter. ** Jack of all trades and master of none.
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Although "knowing" how a computer does stuff (math, calculations, etc..) is nice, unless you need to know this stuff it doesn't really mean anything to the average developer/programmer. I learned a lot of this in College but have forgotten most of it over the years because I have never needed it...at all. I think "knowing" this stuff is on a personal level...do you care to know it. My thoughts on the subject. :)
-- ** You don't hire a handyman to build a house, you hire a carpenter. ** Jack of all trades and master of none.
Are you in any way related to our intern? He can't even test a binary flag in a flag word, but is quite sure that you don't need to know about such oldfashioned stuff anymore. His proof for that? There are no classes or methods for this in the framework, so it can't possibly be important.
"I just exchanged opinions with my boss. I went in with mine and came out with his." - me, 2011 ---
I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins - Mr. Spock 1935 and me 2011 -
Eddy Vluggen wrote:
the difference between a directory and a folder.
Interesting. Is this ironical or is there any difference between a directory or a folder ? I thought these were exchangeable.
Rage wrote:
is there any difference between a directory or a folder ? I thought these were
A directory is a file system concept, whereas a folder is a Windows Shell concept (includes libraries, printers, USB devices, etc). If you run Windows without explorer.exe (yep, that's perfectly possible) or other Shell applications, you would not have access to folders but the directories would still be there.
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
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Danny Martin wrote:
but how many devs know how they work it out?
Ideally a dev would learn to do additions in a different representation than decimal.
Danny Martin wrote:
How many care? Should we know?
It's not required knowledge for the average LOB-app. One can work with dates for years without knowing what an epoch is, or the difference between a directory and a folder.
Danny Martin wrote:
If you know, how did you find out
The Library :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss:
Eddy Vluggen wrote:
One can work with dates for years without knowing what an epoch is
Not to mention a lustrum.
Best wishes, Hans
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Danny Martin wrote:
nineties while working with 68k assembler
Whippersnapper! Early 80s, z80 & 6502. Ah, the days of knowing 1's and 2's complement, and hexadecimal... Iain.
I am one of "those foreigners coming over here and stealing our jobs". Yay me!
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Are you in any way related to our intern? He can't even test a binary flag in a flag word, but is quite sure that you don't need to know about such oldfashioned stuff anymore. His proof for that? There are no classes or methods for this in the framework, so it can't possibly be important.
"I just exchanged opinions with my boss. I went in with mine and came out with his." - me, 2011 ---
I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins - Mr. Spock 1935 and me 2011CDP1802 wrote:
Are you in any way related to our intern?
No, are you? I assure you that in my situation knowing binary math is not very important and has never, ever, been needed.
-- ** You don't hire a handyman to build a house, you hire a carpenter. ** Jack of all trades and master of none.
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
Danny Martin wrote:
How many programmers know how a computer does math? How many care?
x, where x represents the good ones.
Danny Martin wrote:
Should we know?
Yes. You should also know how to change the oil in your car even if you usually have someone else do it.
Danny Martin wrote:
how did you find out
College.
Danny Martin wrote:
when
Late 80s, VAX 11-780. I very much enjoy learning about the innards, theory, and history of computers. Recommended reading: http://www.amazon.com/Code-Publisher-Microsoft-Charles-Petzold/dp/B004PWAJGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306933749&sr=8-3[^] And I have a copy of this on the way: http://www.amazon.com/Most-Complex-Machine-Computers-Computing/dp/1568811284/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2R3T7I71OLEKI&colid=334ZUB8PULBXG[^]
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Hi Guys, I am doing a bit of research and was just wondering... How many programmers know how a computer does math? We take it for granted that those beige boxes (or white, shiny ones in my case :o) know that 2 + 2 = 4, but how many devs know how they work it out? How many care? Should we know? If you know, how did you find out, and when / under what circumstances etc. I learned Boolean Logic in the nineties while working with 68k assembler, and it was a real eye opener. What are the teams thoughts? Danny
They should also know how a computer works, and how the VM or runtime they are targeting works.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP