I often find that I find mathematical concepts much easier to understand if they’re presented as Python code rather than math notation. Someone should write a book like that.
Algebraic notation breaks just about every rule programmers are taught about keeping their code human readable. For example:
Variable and function names should be descriptive
Don’t cram everything into one line
Break up large statements
Consistency is key
Don’t be fancy for fancy’s sake, don’t over-optimize (this is for learning, remember?)
Add in-line comments for lines that aren’t easily grasped
Be explicit where possible (it’s a convention to omit the multiplication operator when multiplying variables because variables are only one letter anyway…)
And then we force kids to cram the whole stdlib (or rather its local bastardization) into their heads or at best give them intentionally bad (uncommented) documentation during exams while wondering why so many just don’t seem to get it, even resent it.
You can’t except learning the science of abstraction by making it concrete. Exampled are not more than examples and if one field required abstract theory, it is indeed the mathematics.
I often find that I find mathematical concepts much easier to understand if they’re presented as Python code rather than math notation. Someone should write a book like that.
Algebraic notation breaks just about every rule programmers are taught about keeping their code human readable. For example:
And then we force kids to cram the whole stdlib (or rather its local bastardization) into their heads or at best give them intentionally bad (uncommented) documentation during exams while wondering why so many just don’t seem to get it, even resent it.
You can’t except learning the science of abstraction by making it concrete. Exampled are not more than examples and if one field required abstract theory, it is indeed the mathematics.
Very well put.
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