• someacnt@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    Just notational difference other than presence of mutation… How is it harder to understand 3 + 6 + 9 + ... + 3n means compared to the for loop? Is repeated addition hard to grasp?

    • Kempeth@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      No it’s not harder to grasp, just less concise. Summation and Product notation exist for the same reason we don’t say “a discernible but subtle level of humidity” and just use “moist” instead - it’s more convenient. People can be taught to readily understand “moist” or the summation notation. It’s much harder to teach people to read the longer notation more quickly.

    • Stan@lemmywinks.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      This thread makes me sad as fuck.

      Obviously you can integrate using Sigma notation, if it’s a definite integral.