Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice

[Daniel Duffy]

Got to fill up the syllabus with something. This is being force-fed to students who don't know what is important, what isn't.

One of the nice things about mathematics is the approach (quote by Paul Halmos whose lecture I once attended):

..the source of all great mathematics is the special case, the concrete example. It is frequent in mathematics that every instance of a concept of seemingly generality is, in essence, the same as a small and concrete special case.

This approach is compatible with risk-driven software process (e.g. Boehm's Spiral Model). Barry Boehm is a numerical analyst BTW. Unfortunately, one does not always get this feeling with CS. Some folk hate the special case.

I really do believe in the Sapir-Whorf thesis that language shapes how we think. With a hammer, everything can become a nail if we are not careful.