Do you think math people are the best programmers?
-
Well, maybe i disagree when you mention that some people who know math can't code... i think in general cases that people who know math can code better than people who studio computer systems engineering (maybe because they know better the abstraction of the things).
innuendoreplay wrote:
people who know math can code better
Maybe in a purely mathematical situation (in Fortran perhaps), but probably not in an event-driven UI type of situation.
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
There was a lengthy discussion about the importance of maths to programmers some time ago. Here[^] Some interesting points raised in it, although from what I remember (that I was arguing) it was more about a mathematical mind than formal studying of the subject.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
I have both EE and Math degrees and they have served me well for my 40+ year programming career - but I have done mostly embedded and real-time data capture / analysis. The EE degree has helped me understand the interaction between hardware and software and the Math degree has helped me to develop efficient algorithms that fit in small memory spaces with slow processors. I started off with DEC PDP-11 mini computers that had 32K of RAM (core) and < 20MHz clock in the mid '70s and my last project was using a TI uP with 32K (Flash + RAM) and 16MHz clock last month - 40 years and not that much has changed except the cost (PDP-11 > $50K, TI uP board < $100) :sigh: If I had gone the web or business applications route, neither would have been any help.
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
-
No, I'm horrible at math. And I'm saddened that you didn't include Alan Turing in your list. Someone who is good at math may be better suited to some types of programming domain, but I doubt that such an animal would be superior at writing something like a hotel reservation system for instance.
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
-
I disagree, it would be much more amusing if it was correct, because it would show a real flaw in our mathematics.
I think you may have missed the point. Let me prove it to you...
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
-
No, I'm horrible at math. And I'm saddened that you didn't include Alan Turing in your list. Someone who is good at math may be better suited to some types of programming domain, but I doubt that such an animal would be superior at writing something like a hotel reservation system for instance.
Well Alan Turing was a Math guy, the list is big to mention all (don't forget the google guy's, etc).
-
I have both EE and Math degrees and they have served me well for my 40+ year programming career - but I have done mostly embedded and real-time data capture / analysis. The EE degree has helped me understand the interaction between hardware and software and the Math degree has helped me to develop efficient algorithms that fit in small memory spaces with slow processors. I started off with DEC PDP-11 mini computers that had 32K of RAM (core) and < 20MHz clock in the mid '70s and my last project was using a TI uP with 32K (Flash + RAM) and 16MHz clock last month - 40 years and not that much has changed except the cost (PDP-11 > $50K, TI uP board < $100) :sigh: If I had gone the web or business applications route, neither would have been any help.
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
Oh! this is just like i want to read! jeje =P you mention than have 40+ years programming career and the web or business applications don't receive help for EE and Math degree. I think that you must have and excellent logic math and compression of abstracts terms but why is so difficult to implement any idea?
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
Quite simply, the best programmers are programmers. I've *never* worked with a mathematician who was a great programmer, but I have met plenty of programmers who were great at maths. If people are primarily interested in programming, that's what makes them good. If they are primarily interested in Maths or Engineering or Art, then they will be (by definition) less interested in programming and therefore less good at it than they could be. Historically computing was used primarily for mathematical problem solving, so of course it involved a lot of maths and mathematicians. The names you quote are ancient history in the computing world. But we are increasingly standing on the shoulders of giants. We don't need to be able to calculate a fourier transform on paper in order to be capable of *using* an FFT in our programs. We can write a physics-based game with no ability to do physics calulations on paper. We can produce a website with complex financial graphs without having a degree in statistics. We have tools (libraries), and we need only understand how and when to use them, not how to build them from scratch.
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
A programmer who is not qualified in mathematics is akin to a surgeon who is not qualified in anatomy.
-
Most of the best programmers I know studied Geography or Geology at college, including myself - although I'm not counting myself as the best. And most of them want to be chefs.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
Doesn't matter... Programming today is not only about some lines of code... its to do with business understanding too...
-
Doesn't matter... Programming today is not only about some lines of code... its to do with business understanding too...
It depends on what you are programming. if you program signal processing you need math. If you do some image maker you need thins thiks like Kanji (Steve Jobs) If you program Android you need think like usability etc.... dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes, including a course on calligraphy.[42] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve\_Jobs#Early\_life\_and\_education
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
Math and programming are not related as far as I can tell.
x=x+1
Is not a mathematical statement. Programming is writing directions for an idiot to follow precisely. Which is why I credit my childhood model building as a primer for programming. ;P Now I use math, usually to piss managers off because I use it to explain why their silly idea won't work or find out why the design specs the salesman has promised cannot be achieved. But most of the math I have dealt with has been in time/motion studies. I've computed how many milliseconds I have between interrupts, how fast can the hardware react to commands given to it, how much data can be shoved through a port. Simple math really, but I am always surprised by the number of people who will not take the time to do even that. In the '80s, after WarGames came out and every kiddie with a computer went home and started writing sequential phone dialers, there was an uproar because "everyone knew" computers could dial thousands of phones a minute and everyone's phones would be ringing incessantly off the hook, that they wanted laws passed to make it illegal to write sequential dialers. I made myself unpleasant by timing how long it took for the hardware to go off hook, wait for dialtone, dial the digits, and then wait three rings. I laid out all the math and demonstrated that it was not that big a deal. But that was not what they wanted to hear. I didn't need a degree in math to do that. I needed a logical view of how things had to happen and in what order. That is programming, not math.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11 Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.
-
I would agree but in some cases you can even be more generic in that Engineers are good programmers. There is one catch though. I have noticed that Engineers don't always look to new technology where the CS folks try to stay more up to date. With that some of the engineers are using old patterns and out dated technology, and by choice simply because they know how to do it that way.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
I think for engineers, what it boils down to is discipline. The engineering fields require rigorous discipline that is pounded into you from the very first engineering class you take as a freshman. It is the lack of that level of discipline that makes engineers scoff at the notion of a CS graduate (myself included) calling themselves a software engineer. That said, IMHO, the best programmers are born, not made - good programming requires a blend of creativity, abstract thinking, and problem solving skills that the great programmers have long before they even reach post-secondary education.
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
You can't pigeon hole a programmer based on their background. Howeever, in my experience, my old loss/lead had a math background can solve the most complex problem brillantly, but his code is unmaintainable (except by himself). Most coding "no no", he did it. - Copy/Paste code because he can tweak one code without affecting the other - Magic numbers because he knows exactly what they mean - Random variable names because it makes sense to HIM - Amasing code optimization... without explanation comments His code runs well, but there was no way it can be maintained by someone else. To him, the code IS the documentation/functionalities because "If you can program, you can read code"
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
It's all about aptitude...
-
Hi, i have a theory...that is that people with math studies are the best in the programming field (if you don't trust me, check Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustup, Alan Kay, etc)...what is your opinions about this? Is convenient study math books instead of programming books?
Engineers do a lot of math and I don't think there is that much difference between the two. Especially EE, all the circuit theory they do is very heavy on math. I think it's safe to say something like math ability and the ability to program co-relate well. People with good math ability do not always choose it as a career. C.A.R. Hoare, the inventor of the QuickSort was a Humanities student before he saw the light and turned to statistics and CS. AS to a course of study, I think it's the man, not the training.