>At 7:38 PM +0100 9/9/02, Lindsay Marshall wrote: >> > I have found areas of knowledge that were of fairly general >>> use in a variety of programming situations, but they were >>> usually not mathematics. For example, an understanding of >>> automata is something I've relied on over and over again. >> >>I forgot automata theory. You really need to have a good grasp of the whole state >machine idea to solve many problems successfully. > >Can you give an example of this?
I think Lindsay' answer is more along the lines of 'if you ask a man with a hammer to solve a problem he will use a hammer'. That is, Lindsay approaches things from an academic point of view. In my experience people who love mathematics write the most unmaintainable code. The following link provides a good example (ok, so he knows a thing or two about algorithms and writing elegant books): http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/ Injecting a bit of psychology. You might like to look at "The number sense" by Dehaene. A paperback well worth reading. I recently tried to get to grips with "Where mathematics comes from" by Lakoff and Nunez. My 30 days has elapsed with Amazon, so the local library will be getting a donation. derek -- Derek M Jones tel: +44 (0) 1252 520 667 Knowledge Software Ltd mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Applications Standards Conformance Testing http://www.knosof.co.uk - Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
