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Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 21:01

12-Nov-15 21:01

Richard Andrew x64 wrote:
I wish I had such discipline

I usually haven't when it comes to maths! Laugh | :laugh:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

Amarnath S12-Nov-15 20:15

Amarnath S

12-Nov-15 20:15

Great!

I've also started creating videos on Math from Nov 1 onward. The text for these videos is mostly in English, though the explanations are in my language Kannada. (Nov 1 is a significant date marking the formation of my state Karnataka in India).

Planning to create/upload about one video of about 10-12 mins every day (Youtube limit is 15 minutes for the free account). Topic for now is Vector Calculus for the First Year Engineering Curriculum.

Search for 'Bengloor Bhoopa Youtube' to go there, Video 8 being a representative sample.

Hopefully these are different from those of the Khan Academy.

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 21:04

12-Nov-15 21:04

I can't tell apart the Kannada from the maths! Laugh | :laugh:

Awesome though Thumbs Up | :thumbsup:

Keep up the good work!

I'm aiming for a blog post each week Smile | :)

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

Pirate Guy12-Nov-15 20:59

Pirate Guy

12-Nov-15 20:59

Sander Rossel wrote:
maths

Well, comparing with your "Part 1" post, you seem to be off to a good start. Laugh | :laugh:

Do you mind if I ask what sort of degree do you have? I could't find anything on your blog. But surely, if maths is your enemy, you are not an engineer. Wink | ;)

I ain't got no signature.

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 21:10

12-Nov-15 21:10

I have a Bachelor degree in Common Arts and Cultural Sciences and a Masters degree in Media and Journalism.
And yes, I am very much an engineer! Big Grin | :-D

I decided to get a degree in the software field though, which, unfortunately, has lots of maths involved.
I rarely need maths in my day to day programming and if I do it's rarely more than a percentage, a div, reminder, that sort of simple stuff.
Maths is one of the few things I'm really very bad at.
And I only decided to get that degree because no matter how good an engineer you are some people will never take you serious if you don't have a degree in the field Frown | :(

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

chriselst12-Nov-15 21:36

12-Nov-15 21:36

Programming is maths.

It is almost nothing but having values, working out other values, doing things determined by those values.

Pure, undiluted maths.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 22:03

12-Nov-15 22:03

An excerpt taken from my first maths blog:

Sander Rossel wrote:
When asking programmers about maths you’ll find two kinds of people, those who say you don’t need maths to be a good programmer and those who say maths is essential. Personally I think both are true. [...] For now, let’s put it this way: knowing a thing or two about maths gives you an edge as a programmer!

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

chriselst12-Nov-15 22:54

12-Nov-15 22:54

That's not what I mean at all.

Those who think they don't need maths as a programmer think that maths is nothing more than A+B=C and variations upon that theme.

They don't know what maths is.

You don't need maths for programming, programming is maths.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 23:04

12-Nov-15 23:04

Alright, let me fill in the [...] from my previous excerpt Laugh | :laugh:

Sander Rossel wrote:
For some applications and industries you really don’t need advanced maths, but go into robotics, machine learning, statistics, or that kind of thing and you’re going to need maths, lots of it. And whether you need it or not, computers, programming languages and databases all wouldn’t exist without maths.

Sure, a function is a mathematical thing, just like collections, graphs, (bool) logic and what have you.
But to actually write a function or use a list you don't need the maths theory that goes behind it Smile | :)

To me it used to be somehow 'common knowledge' until I took up a book on maths Laugh | :laugh:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

chriselst12-Nov-15 23:15

12-Nov-15 23:15

Quote:
I rarely need maths in my day to day programming

Was the bit I was originally replying to (on my phone so no quote).

Understanding the theory behind the maths you are using or not doesn't mean you are not using that maths.

Lots of people don't understand the biological theory behind getting someone pregnant, but they still manage to execute the process.

I like it when people say they haven't needed or used algebra since they were forced to learn it at school. I ask them if they've ever cooked a joint of meat. The cooking time is a fixed period of time multiplied by the weight of the joint plus an additional period of time depending on how well you want the joint done.

Or (for roast beef (cooked medium) for example) t = (25 * w) + 25 where t is the cooking time and w is the weight in pounds.

They're solving that equation each time they cook, whether they realise it or not.

You think you don't need maths in your day to day programming, I say that you are using maths, just without thinking about it or probably even realising it.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

Sander Rossel13-Nov-15 0:52

13-Nov-15 0:52

That's an interesting point of view and I can only agree with you.

chriselst wrote:
You think you don't need maths in your day to day programming, I say that you are using maths, just without thinking about it or probably even realising it.

The real question is if you need to thoroughly study it (to be a good programmer) Smile | :)

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

chriselst13-Nov-15 0:57

13-Nov-15 0:57

Sander Rossel wrote:
The real question is if you need to thoroughly study it (to be a good programmer)

Not at all.

I'm not even sure that studying maths would make you a better programmer (aside from the specific aspects of maths and specialty areas of programming you mentioned earlier).

Perhaps programming makes you a better mathematician?

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

Sander Rossel13-Nov-15 1:01

13-Nov-15 1:01

chriselst wrote:
Not at all.

I'm not even sure that studying maths would make you a better programmer (aside from the specific aspects of maths and specialty areas of programming you mentioned earlier).

We agree again!

chriselst wrote:
Perhaps programming makes you a better mathematician?

I speak from experience, nope! Laugh | :laugh:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

den2k8812-Nov-15 20:59

den2k88

12-Nov-15 20:59

Don't worry, when I was a simple student, thus attending all the courses, we began starting making math puns about two weeks after the beginning of the classes. In a couple of months we were actually discussing math in our coffee/cigarette pauses.

Engineering can be bad for your health.

GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver

"When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 21:13

12-Nov-15 21:13

den2k88 wrote:
we began starting making math puns

I already do that, but I still can't stand maths Laugh | :laugh:

den2k88 wrote:
we were actually discussing math in our coffee/cigarette pauses

That's why I don't take those pauses Laugh | :laugh:

I'm not taking classes.
I study at the Open University so I do everything alone, from home, in the evening hours...

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

den2k8812-Nov-15 21:16

den2k88

12-Nov-15 21:16

Sander Rossel wrote:
I study at the Open University so I do everything alone, from home, in the evening hours...

Which is basically what I'm doing now that I work full time. Or should I say, what I'm NOT doing... being a commuter and having a (small, but size doesn't matter) household really sucks up all the time, attention and energy I have available. You have all my respect Thumbs Up | :thumbsup:

Sander Rossel12-Nov-15 22:04

12-Nov-15 22:04

den2k88 wrote:
Or should I say, what I'm NOT doing...

Sounds all too familiar! Laugh | :laugh:

I did one exam in the past year... Sigh | :sigh:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

KarstenK12-Nov-15 23:15

KarstenK

12-Nov-15 23:15

Math can be a lot of fun. It helps me to earn a lot of money, master my finances with a big surplus and even impress experienced craftsman. Cool | :cool:

Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany

Sander Rossel13-Nov-15 0:59

13-Nov-15 0:59

KarstenK wrote:
master my finances with a big surplus

The trick is to make lots of money while spending none (alright, and keep clear of debts)! Smile | :)

KarstenK wrote:
and even impress experienced craftsman

That would be worth it!
A previous employer once attacked me for asking "what's [some technical term he mentioned]?".
His response was "oh yeah, you didn't get that at school...", which was really low as I was a better programmer in almost every way possible (well, except procedural VB6 style, that was his turf Poke tongue | ;-P

).
I guess he wanted to boast his superiority a little.
That moment also led me to picking up a study again.
Later I explained to him that "the return value was just some tuple" and he asked "what's a tuple?".
I think you can guess my response, "what, didn't you get that at school!? WTF | :WTF:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need.
Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
— Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards,
Sander

Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly

Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!

Marc Clifton13-Nov-15 2:21

Marc Clifton

13-Nov-15 2:21

Sander Rossel wrote:
I just spent an entire evening finishing an article on algebra (third article already) and I liked it.

It's absolutely great! And the really great thing is, by writing about it to teach others, you are really deep learning about it yourself. It's one thing to know something, it's a completely different level of knowing to teach it. Awesome work, Sander!

Marc

Sander Rossel13-Nov-15 5:38