Yes, I like that a lot - 'Digital' Math. It does have a different sense than 'Discrete' Math.
Per the log entry below, I've been rubbing elbowswith Portlandia's "intelligencia" again (comicbook allusion), thanks to Chairman Steve (andElizabeth).Steve is walking towards my place as I write this,having just met with the latter, the event organizer.Methinks "digital math" is gaining on "discretemath" as what to decry as not being taught(the ongoing media campaign I've beenupdating y'all about).The latter has the disadvantage of sounding like"discreet", whereas "digital" has these nicereverberations with "analog" -- and that's preciselythe distinction "discrete" was trying to makein keeping it quantized, as in "not continuous".People already know "analog vs digital" frompopular media. HDTV is digital. Shows like'The X-Files' get recorded as files, on magnetizeddisks keeping ones and zeros, or in flash drives.Analog records still sound good though; worthkeeping a turntable and watching video clipsabout how they work.However, the reason this is probably not animportant argument is zip codes (e.g. 97214)are free to vary as to what they adopt (or don't)in terms of nomenclature.We might tell parents: "the Silicon Forest isamazed and agog at how plugged up theSTEM pipeline has become, like why won'tschools share more digital math?", whereas ina neighboring state we might say somethingabout how the lack of "computational thinking"is quite stunning (and stunting).Why Johnny Can't Code is still a classic, thoughI don't know why the author bothered to take anill-informed swipe at Python. Someone's partisanagenda I suppose **.There's no need to standardize on "the one rightway to talk" -- a sure way to get bogged down innonsensical little arguments.OK, back to mathfuture.Oh yes, and the log entry:Steve will be joining you at Pycon soon. I'mtoo booked up this year. I forget if Michelle willbe going, I think she said yes.Ah, Steve is here,Kirby UrnerMartian MathDigital MathPythonic Math"Gnu" Math**"The "scripting" languages that serve as entry-leveltools for today's aspiring programmers -- like Perland Python -- don't make this experience accessibleto students in the same way. BASIC was close enoughto the algorithm that you could actually follow thereasoning of the machine as it made choices andfollowed logical pathways. Repeating this pointfor emphasis: You could even do it all yourself,following along on paper, for a few iterations,verifying that the dot on the screen was movingby the sheer power of mathematics, alone. Wow!"... sounds to me like this author doesn't haveclear concepts, is getting this fed to him 2nd hand,not through personal experience. Since when isPython "entry level" (compared to what? -- everylanguage has its newbies) and since when did westop "following along on paper, for a few iterations"?OK, maybe not literal paper.
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