Re^4: Not Everyone Likes Perl, I Guess

Alas, no, you understood me correctly. I am not terribly enamored with geometric maths of any sort (geometry, trigonometry, calculus . . .) but I do tend to enjoy a little algebraic math every now and then. It is probably in part my affinity for the algebraic that draws me to programming, though I think my mild affection for algebraic math probably comes from my respect for and interest in formal logic (i.e. algegraic logic).

So: No, I'm not really interested in calculating volumes of irregular shapes and ballistic trajectories, or in any other application of mathematics to what amounts to hideously complex systems of estimation. I hope you'll forgive this disappointment. Perhaps you'll feel better about it if I tell you that I don't in any way discount the value of such activities, but simply prefer to leave them in the hands of those more temperamentally suited to them.

- apotheon

CopyWrite Chad Perrin

Comment on Re^4: Not Everyone Likes Perl, I Guess

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Re^5: Not Everyone Likes Perl, I Guess by dyer85 (Acolyte) on Oct 19, 2004 at 09:53 UTC
I think you make a very good point here, apotheon. Wow, all you guys are so intelligent. Like apotheon, I don't think my "sunny" disposition is able to include advanced mathematics as a hobbie. What I love about programming is how all the logic of different statements and functions can essentially create an intelligence which arguably decides and takes an action. I feel such a rush upon creating something that, when personified to an extreme, thinks. I know, I know, you're like, "Man, shut up!" But this is just how I feel about programming. I find that mathematics differs in that it defines nature around us with irrefutible proof and perfect harmony. But when was the last time that you saw straight math display a message that said hello to specifically you? My Site in Progress	[reply]
Re^6: Not Everyone Likes Perl, I Guess by apotheon (Deacon) on Oct 19, 2004 at 10:13 UTC
Heh. You've got a wonderful way of looking at it. That's actually much the same sort of learning rush I look for in writing code, but it's harder to find now than it was. I wrote my first "hello world" program when my age was in single digits, and the luster seems to have worn off. It takes more to make me grin like an idiot than it used to, and that's actually kind of disappointing. I'd prefer all the simple pleasures in writing code were just as exciting and induced just as much happiness as they ever did. Unfortunately, there was a break in my involvement with computers of a few years between when I was very young and learning to program and when I was essentially an adult and getting caught up on the changes in technologies. I'm still not much of a programmer, despite starting at such a young age, because I'm missing the education in that field of endeavor that should have existed somewhere in the middle. I tend to be quite good at the basics and rather awful at putting them together into complex, useful collections of algorithms. I have that early grounding in the basics, but none of the skill that really builds on that in the meantime. I'm working on getting myself back into the swing of things with Perl, which is ideal for this point in my life because of the fact that I regularly do web development work and also admin Linux machines, so of course I hold high hopes for my ability to learn to effectively use Perl in the future. Now that I've rambled on with a complete non-sequitur, I'll shut up. - apotheon CopyWrite Chad Perrin	[reply]