Post #2087616
2026-05-06 08:22 UTC
Replies (17)
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@nyx@lgbtqia.space 2026-05-06 14:52
@shana@mastodon.gamedev.place not really for loops. In math a sum can and often does go up to infinity, whereas a for loop cannot do that. As an analogy to convey some information is fine, I'm just reminding that it ain't the same thing.
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@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz 2026-05-06 08:33
@shana Regular reminder to self that all those scary for-loops are just iterated operators 😜
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@xerz@masfloss.net 2026-05-06 14:35
@shana that, and equations over planes also implicitly translate into loops over each value of the plane that's basically what made maths finally click for me
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@lemgandi@mastodon.social 2026-05-06 14:40
@shana This is life-changing for me.
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@zmz@mastodon.social 2026-05-06 14:58
@shana for some value of "are just"
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@kwayk42@sechtor.social 2026-05-06 15:38
@shana
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@mousey@mastodon.seattlematrix.org 2026-05-06 15:55
@shana Unironically: OOOOOOOOOOOH! I've *always* wondered!!
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@tautology@infosec.exchange 2026-05-06 16:12
@shana when I was doing the maths parts of my degree, I very quickly realised that maths notation is the problem with why maths is difficult. Borring from the field of computer science to remove all the greek characters that often have multiple uses [1] and rename operators with descriptors could make it way more accessible. [1] Okay this is mainly astrophysics's fault that one equation used sigma in both cases for three different things.
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@jupiter@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-05-06 16:25
@shana Please tell mathematicians to write fewer infinite loops -.-
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@erraggy@hachyderm.io 2026-05-06 18:32
Things I never knew... Thanks 🙏🏻
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@gkrnours@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-05-06 18:47
@shana I don't remind ever seeing the Π one but ∫ yes and ∫ is so cursed
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@juandesant@mathstodon.xyz 2026-05-06 20:06
@shana I think the reverse take is more powerful: some loops can be avoided if you have a closed mathematical form for them. And as someone else noted when quoting this post, for loops imply an ordering, the mathematical operation does not. Plus, loops are just one form: generators are another, and the fact that \[\sum_{i=0}^{m} f(i) = \sum_{i=0}^{n-1} f(i) + f(n) + \sum_{i=n+1}^{m} f(i) \] means that generators are really another option.
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@pavel@social.kernel.org 2026-05-06 21:06
@shana Yeah, well, trouble is they often go to infinity :-).
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@cyberspice@oldbytes.space 2026-05-06 21:29
@shana @arclight I have managed to get as old as I am without having ever come across the capital PI product thing. And I did physics and astro physics at uni and a masters.
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@emailgeek@masto.hackers.town 2026-05-07 07:12
@shana@mastodon.gamedev.place It’s like seeing the sheet music for the first time, even though you’ve been playing the song in your own band for years 😅
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@trashwizard@mastodon.social 2026-05-07 15:30
@shana@mastodon.gamedev.place @fortyseven@defcon.social As someone who was programming obsessed but hated math back in high school, this would have done me so much good
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@mirth@mastodon.sdf.org 2026-05-07 21:39
@shana@mastodon.gamedev.place Nobody has pointed out the most important* difference, which is that one is very painful to write on a chalk board, while the other is very painful to write on a teletype. *well...