[Tutor] Tutor Digest, Vol 103, Issue 145

[Afzal Hossain]

unsubscribe

On 9/30/12, tutor-request at python.org <tutor-request at python.org> wrote:
> Send Tutor mailing list submissions to
> 	tutor at python.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> 	http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> 	tutor-request at python.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> 	tutor-owner at python.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Tutor digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions (Alan Gauld)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 09:37:51 +0100
> From: Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com>
> To: tutor at python.org
> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions
> Message-ID: <k490d4$gt9$1 at ger.gmane.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> On 29/09/12 23:57, Oscar Benjamin wrote:
>> On 29 September 2012 22:57, Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com
>
>>     My point is that we should not choose short names just to keep an
>>     expression on a single line....
>>
>>     in written math too. (Most of the equations I remember reading from
>>     my quantum mechanics days were split over at least 3 lines... trying
>>
>> I wouldn't advocate forcing an equation onto a single line if it doesn't
>> fit on a single line. However, I'm sure that the equations you're
>> refering to would have already been using lots of symbols described by
>> very succinct single-greek/latin-letters and other simple glyphs.
>
> Yes which made them even more difficult to understand.
>
>  > Now imagine replacing each of those single letter symbols
>  > with English underscore-separated words so instead of letter
>  > capital psi you would have 'time_dependent_wave_function'
>  > and instead of hbar you would have 'planks_constant_over_twopi'
>  > and so on. Your equation would go from three lines to thirty
>
> One of the things I like about programming is that I can take those
> types of equations and break them into chunks and put them in
> separate named functions. Then each term gets evaluated separately
> and has a name that represents what it means in physical terms.
>
> <off topic rant>
> One of the things that makes math hard for people to grasp is its
> insistence on abstracting functions/values to single letter names etc.
> (especially when those names are in a foreign language/symbology,
> like Greek!) Of course, the abstraction is powerful in its own right
> because it can then be applied in multiple domains, but that abstraction
> is often the barrier to people understanding the
> principle. Those that are "good at math" are often really those
> who are "good at abstraction".
> </off topic>
>
>> Now imagine replacing each of those single letter symbols with English
>> underscore-separated words so instead of letter capital psi you would
>> have 'time_dependent_wave_function' and instead of hbar you would have
>> 'planks_constant_over_twopi' and so on. Your equation would go from
>> three lines to thirty
>
>
> --
> Alan G
> Author of the Learn to Program web site
> http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Digest Footer
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tutor maillist  -  Tutor at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of Tutor Digest, Vol 103, Issue 145
> ***************************************
>


-- 
afzal