Let Go, Standard Library From Community

[Daniel Keep]

Walter Bright wrote:
> Jeff Nowakowski wrote:
>> 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.

Maybe that's why I'm stuck with this burning desire to *never* get
within a hundred kilometres of any maths course ever again.  I know
*why* it's useful, but having to sit down and memorise huge numbers of
formulae so that I can write down answers for one test and then never
look at it again was driving me crazy.

But I'm not crazy.  He he.

> 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.

Really?  I'd always been taught that combining "hit it with a hammer
until it sees your way" reasoning and chemistry was A Bad Idea™.  And
now I find out they were wrong!  Cool!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hammer some red phosphorous and
potassium chlorate together--what's the worst that could happen?*

	-- Daniel

* Serious obligatory disclaimer: Do not try this.  Ever.  See the third
last paragraph of
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Stories/015.8/index.html

-- 
int getRandomNumber()
{
    return 4; // chosen by fair dice roll.
              // guaranteed to be random.
}

http://xkcd.com/

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