In this wonderful blog post, Ted Dziuba talks about learning programming like a mathematician. I am glad that the emphasis of mathetic thinking is coming back.
This article is a little more abstract, talking about the similarities between learning mathematics and learning a programming language. The goal of this article is to give programmers a framework by which they can effectively learn a new programming language, much in the way that a mathematician learns a new area of mathematics to the point where he or she can be effective.
In conclusion, Ted summarizes the essential similarity between math and programming.
- Find the fundamental theorem, the sine qua non, of the language.
- Understand how this fundamental theorem influences the structures and design decisions of the language, and how it is used to establish relationship between different parts of the language.
- Practice and read documentation to the point where you can mentally picture how to fit the language structures together in the most efficient possible way to solve a problem.
Peter Norvig in his Teach Yourself Programming in 10 years says:
Learn at least a half dozen programming languages. Include one language that supports class abstractions (like Java or C++), one that supports functional abstraction (like Lisp or ML), one that supports syntactic abstraction (like Lisp), one that supports declarative specifications (like Prolog or C++ templates), one that supports coroutines (like Icon or Scheme), and one that supports parallelism (like Sisal).
I think the essense of programming is to build powerful mental models of the problem and the ability to deal with abstractions. A training in Math definitely helps in developing this skill.
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