Let Go, Standard Library From Community

[Walter Bright]

Jeff Nowakowski wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>>> Caltech requires of all its graduates:
>>>
>>> o    3 years of calculus
>>> o    2 years physics
>>> o    1 year chemistry
> 
> Bill Baxter wrote:
>> If all you know is CS, then I think you're restricting the kind of 
>> work you can do.
> 
> I have a Computer Science degree, and I have never needed calculus, 
> physics, chemistry, etc. in any of my programming jobs.  I resent all 
> the time I was forced to waste taking these courses, instead of learning 
> about my trade.

I have (such as using physics in game code), and, of course, in the 
engineering coding I've done.

At worst, I simply have the pleasure of knowing the basics in that 
stuff, and can enjoy things like I once attended a dinner put on by the 
JPL mission director for a Mars probe, and was able to follow what he 
was talking about. I can appreciate what the Wright bros did and why 
they were successful while their contemporaries failed. I can read about 
technical things happening and be able understand what they're talking 
about. I know why those 9/11 conspiracy theories are hokum (all the 
"anomalies" are easily explained if you have even an elementary 
knowledge of physics and chemistry). It enabled me to correct a severe 
structural flaw in my house that the architect, structural engineer, and 
builder failed to notice. I have yet to find a roofer who understands 
what "galvanic corrosion" is, and I always check what kind of nails they 
use on the flashing (they're always wrong), saving me a ton of 
maintenance costs.

The downside (if you could call it that) is that knowledge of real 
physics takes away from enjoying movies that have "Hollywood physics".

> Sure, these topics would have been useful if I wanted to get a 
> programming job in a field that made use of it, but I don't want these 
> kinds of jobs, and there are plenty of programming jobs that don't need 
> them.  I even wouldn't have minded being exposed to the topics, but I 
> was forced to take the same physics and calculus courses as mechanical 
> engineers.  I wasted so much time memorizing formulas and learning how 
> to solve problems that I never touched again.

It's too bad you were made to memorize formulas. To me, that isn't what 
physics is about, and at Caltech we were never made to 
memorize/regurgitate formulas. It's about learning how to solve complex 
problems. That skill comes in very handy with programming.

For example, a common programming problem is your program doesn't 
behave. How do you go about fixing it? It's the same organized way of 
thinking as solving a physics or calculus problem.