Came here to say the same thing harshly and laced with profanity. I guess I can back off a bit from that now.
I was filled with crushing disappointment when I learned mathematical notation is "shorthand" and there isn't a formal grammar. Same goes for learning writers take "shortcuts" with the expectation the reader will "fill in the gaps". Ostensibly this is so the writer can do "less writing" and the reader can do "less reading".
There's so much "pure" and "universal" about math, but the humans who write about it are too lazy to write about it in a rigorous manner.
I can't write software w/ the expectation the computer "just knows" or that it will "fill in the gaps". Sure-- I can call libraries, write in a higher-level language to let the compiler make machine language for me, etc. I can inspect and understand the underlying implementations if I want to, though. Nothing relies on the machine "just knowing".
It's feels like the same goddamn laziness that plagues every other human endeavor outside of programming. People can't be bothered to be exact about things because being exact is hard and people avoid hard work.
"We'll have a face-to-face to discuss this there's too much here to put in an email."
I was filled with crushing disappointment when I learned mathematical notation is "shorthand" and there isn't a formal grammar. Same goes for learning writers take "shortcuts" with the expectation the reader will "fill in the gaps". Ostensibly this is so the writer can do "less writing" and the reader can do "less reading".
There's so much "pure" and "universal" about math, but the humans who write about it are too lazy to write about it in a rigorous manner.
I can't write software w/ the expectation the computer "just knows" or that it will "fill in the gaps". Sure-- I can call libraries, write in a higher-level language to let the compiler make machine language for me, etc. I can inspect and understand the underlying implementations if I want to, though. Nothing relies on the machine "just knowing".
It's feels like the same goddamn laziness that plagues every other human endeavor outside of programming. People can't be bothered to be exact about things because being exact is hard and people avoid hard work.
"We'll have a face-to-face to discuss this there's too much here to put in an email."