There must be 2 ways the human brain understands data/information structuring.
That's an incredibly smart observation. Personally, I look at is as follows; "Most highly skilled software developers have historically been high functioning autistic. These tends to have fewer problems understanding complex parts, resulting in that they end up adding complexity. For the autistic brain, what is a cognitive problem resulting in mental overload for the neuro typical, is easily understood due to an ability to focus and concentrate being far superior to the neuro typical brain."
Of course, today the complexity is so huge in most software projects, that even the autistic amongst us tends to get a headache and depressions having to deal with this complexity. The cure is to simplify stuff, as always. The only way to simplify stuff, is to cure autism, and/or facilitate for neuro typicals to create software.
Psst, I say this with the outmost respect for high functioning autistic brains, having been a high functioning autistic myself, whom for weird reasons "cured myself" back in 2011 as a result of a temporal lobe seizure, resulting in a cognitive revision.
As to the proof of that I used to be autistics, check up SmartWin++ - A GUI library for C++. 15 years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, with multiple inheritance, diamond inheritance, template classes, partial template specialisations, and God knows what not. Today when I look at its code, I become physically ill thinking that I'm actually responsible for this garbage ... :/
Bjarne (Stroustrup) loved it though - And links to it from his website ... ;)
Wow ... now that's something interesting I have never heard of!
When I think of OOP in my brain, I picture it as a huge building with multiple doors and levels, from which I have to "mentally" pass through in order to "get to" the information I want.
On the other hand, I picture FP or data-oriented structures like a giant whiteboard with multiple "areas" I can "focus" to in order to "get" to the information I want.
It's easier for me because I can afford to loose focus and go back to where I was (something that constantly happens in every workday) by just remembering vaguely where the "area" of interest was on the whiteboard.
In the OOP mental model on the other hand, I cannot afford to loose focus, because then I'd have to start back from the beginning, switching floors, and opening doors...
Not sure if this makes any sense but anyway I am glad I could share my thoughts on this.
Would be interesting if someone else in the autism spectrum could share their personal experience on this.
Your building versus white area actually makes very much sense. The autistic brain tends to be better at focusing on details, and needs it isolated to focus - While the neuro typical tends to be better at seeing the whole picture. It would totally explain the differences in thinking ... ;)
I can afford to loose focus and go back to where I was (something that constantly happens in every workday) by just remembering vaguely where the "area" of interest was on the whiteboard.
This is definitely one of the largest advantages I see with FP, since it becomes less "expensive" being interrupted, and you can move faster around in "the terrain" ...
In the OOP mental model on the other hand, I cannot afford to loose focus, because then I'd have to start back from the beginning, switching floors, and opening doors...
There was a study on this subject some 20 years ago. If you're debugging complex (OO) code, interrupting you for simply one minute, looses 40 minutes of work. 20 minutes to "get out" and 20 more minutes to get "back in". Not sure I (completely) agree, but it's definitely much less "expensive" being interrupted with FP than with OO ... :/
That's an incredibly smart observation. Personally, I look at is as follows; "Most highly skilled software developers have historically been high functioning autistic. These tends to have fewer problems understanding complex parts, resulting in that they end up adding complexity. For the autistic brain, what is a cognitive problem resulting in mental overload for the neuro typical, is easily understood due to an ability to focus and concentrate being far superior to the neuro typical brain."
Of course, today the complexity is so huge in most software projects, that even the autistic amongst us tends to get a headache and depressions having to deal with this complexity. The cure is to simplify stuff, as always. The only way to simplify stuff, is to cure autism, and/or facilitate for neuro typicals to create software.
Psst, I say this with the outmost respect for high functioning autistic brains, having been a high functioning autistic myself, whom for weird reasons "cured myself" back in 2011 as a result of a temporal lobe seizure, resulting in a cognitive revision.
As to the proof of that I used to be autistics, check up SmartWin++ - A GUI library for C++. 15 years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, with multiple inheritance, diamond inheritance, template classes, partial template specialisations, and God knows what not. Today when I look at its code, I become physically ill thinking that I'm actually responsible for this garbage ... :/
Bjarne (Stroustrup) loved it though - And links to it from his website ... ;)
Wow ... now that's something interesting I have never heard of!
When I think of OOP in my brain, I picture it as a huge building with multiple doors and levels, from which I have to "mentally" pass through in order to "get to" the information I want.
On the other hand, I picture FP or data-oriented structures like a giant whiteboard with multiple "areas" I can "focus" to in order to "get" to the information I want.
It's easier for me because I can afford to loose focus and go back to where I was (something that constantly happens in every workday) by just remembering vaguely where the "area" of interest was on the whiteboard.
In the OOP mental model on the other hand, I cannot afford to loose focus, because then I'd have to start back from the beginning, switching floors, and opening doors...
Not sure if this makes any sense but anyway I am glad I could share my thoughts on this.
Would be interesting if someone else in the autism spectrum could share their personal experience on this.
Your building versus white area actually makes very much sense. The autistic brain tends to be better at focusing on details, and needs it isolated to focus - While the neuro typical tends to be better at seeing the whole picture. It would totally explain the differences in thinking ... ;)
This is definitely one of the largest advantages I see with FP, since it becomes less "expensive" being interrupted, and you can move faster around in "the terrain" ...
There was a study on this subject some 20 years ago. If you're debugging complex (OO) code, interrupting you for simply one minute, looses 40 minutes of work. 20 minutes to "get out" and 20 more minutes to get "back in". Not sure I (completely) agree, but it's definitely much less "expensive" being interrupted with FP than with OO ... :/
ktsangop - "I picture FP or data-oriented structures..."
As if OOP doesn't have data-oriented structures?
Your comparison is a false equivocation and part of your confusion.