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Comment by gjulianm

Variable naming is important because variables are used to represent almost anything, you have autocomplete and search so longer variable names are quickly typed, and most lines of codes will have one, two or three of these names.

On the other hand, notation in mathematics is used to represent only a limited set of common concepts for the field, you don't have autocomplete and a single line can contain a lot of concepts. For example, compare two expressions of Stokes' theorem (given HN typesetting limitations):

    ∫_A dω = ∫_∂A ω
versus

   integral(A, differential(ω)) = integral(boundary(A), ω)
While the second one is easier to understand at a first glance, the problem of that equation is not the symbols but the concepts behind them. And to understand the concepts you're going to go over similar equations time and time again, and at that point the extra letters and extra space used is going to complicate both writing and reading the equations. Of course, there is always people who overuse and underuse notation, but if mathematics relies heavily on notation it's for a reason: it's useful.

Edit: Also, the second one is only "easy" if you're familiarized with function calling in programming. One could argue that to go full notation-less you should only write in proper sentences, and that would make it even more complex.

parent gjulianm 4 years ago

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