nevin1@ihlpf.ATT.COM (00704a-Liber) (05/06/88)
In article <765@l.cc.purdue.edu> cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes: >An even bigger problem is that most people, including many mathematicians, are >unable to see that mathematics is an absolutely essential language _if you are >considering non-routine situations_. And the biggest problem of all is that there are certain people who preach that mathematics is the greatest language that man has ever invented and that it should be used for everything! (Sorry about the flame, but I'm getting a little tired of seeing this posted time and time again, especially when no evidence is given to support this claim.) I do not believe that mathematics would make a decent programming language, even if it is possible to implement it. All that mathematics, as a language, does is list statements (which may be true, false, or indeterminate); there is very little in the formal definition of mathematics which gives insights on how to solve actual problems. When I see an expression such as '2x=4', what am I suppose to do with it? Should I 'solve for x' (whatever that means; English shouldn't be needed once mathematics is defined)? I don't know, and I claim that there is nothing in mathematics which tells me what to do. Another problem with math as a programming language is that the problem set that mathematics can describe is much larger than the problem set that computers can solve. Thirdly, it is very hard for me to describe most of my applications in terms of formal mathematics. Try implementing the Unix kernal in mathematics; good luck!! If you want to continue your evidence that math is the greatest language ever written, present some evidence to support your claim. -- _ __ NEVIN J. LIBER ..!ihnp4!ihlpf!nevin1 (312) 510-6194 ' ) ) "The secret compartment of my ring I fill / / _ , __o ____ with an Underdog super-energy pill." / (_</_\/ <__/ / <_ These are solely MY opinions, not AT&T's, blah blah blah