Ahouxf.149
net.followup
utzoo!decvax!harpo!npois!houxi!houxf!ziegler
Fri May  7 10:18:04 1982
Truths from Dr. D.
First off, I dismiss all of the revered Dr. Dijkstra's remarks about
programming languages as being in the same category as the usual
macho technician's attitude, to whit:

       "If it's not my favorite [programming language, DBMS,
        OS, terminal, hardware, etc.] then it's no good."

Second, there is, at best, a tenuous relationship between the fields
of mathematics and computer science.  This relationship is mostly
historical; before computing machinery was invented the only label
to hang on the work that we now call "computer science" was
"mathematics".  Today we know better, and anyone who propagates the
idea that the two fields are the same (or even strongly related) is
doing a great disservice to both.

Finally, the good doctor seems to be assuming that programming and
computer science are one and the same.  I personally have always
considered programming to be an applied area of computer science,
just as I consider logic circuit design to be an applied area of
electrical engineering.

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