Hear, hear YC. Symbols really <i>do</i> matter. Although with regards to the Physics part, I beg to disagree.<div><br></div><div>I just took Physics (this particular course covering Classic Newtonian Mechanics). I really had trouble with the variables. Sometimes T (in caps) refers to period, sometimes to tension. Then there's small rho (for density) and p (for pressure). I've had the time of my life trying to figure out if the symbol is small rho or p, their only difference being that, the upper left edge of small rho is smooth. When the system in question gets complex, this can be quite a pain in the neck (literally and figuratively).</div>
<div><br></div><div>Suddenly, I remembered one of the things my most recent Computer Science instructor prioritized in grading our code: good variable names.</div><div><br></div><div>(Sure, subscripts are quite handy in the abovementioned case. I found them useful when I solve at home. However, I found them pesky in face of exam time pressure)</div>
<div><br></div><div>Well, just thought I'd give some opinion. I'm a student and it sounds like most of you here are educators. To balance things pretty well.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/6/1 YC <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:yinso.chen@gmail.com">yinso.chen@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="im">On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Jos Koot <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jos.koot@telefonica.net" target="_blank">jos.koot@telefonica.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex">
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</div>That does not sound like a sound idea. Learning programming, or maths or music is like learning a language. The alphabet is part of it. If you don't master the alphabet, you can'r read communications of others.<br>
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There is a (small) possibility you only want to understand the essentials without being disturbed by a new language (cq alphabet). But if the subject catches you and you want to read more about it, ignorance of the language gives you no access to other literature.<br>
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We are even lucky compared to Chinese people, I think. May be we should use Chinese characters in our maths too. A very rich set of new symbols!<br>
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</blockquote></div><div><br>Yes the symbol matters. I would love to see someone experiment with using Chinese characters and see what happens. It's just abstractions right? Then one should have no issue picking up the following two equations with equal ease. <br>
<br>能 = 量光^2<br><br>E = MC^2<br><br>At least physics equations' choice of symbols often have direct meanings, which aids understanding. Math symbols often appeared arbitrary.<br><br></div></div>
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