from Hacker News

Language skills more important than math to learn programming, research shows

by chrstphrhrt on 5/13/20, 11:00 PM with 2 comments

• by WheelsAtLarge on 5/16/20, 12:48 AM

  Many years ago I read a study that said English majors were more likely to succeed as programmers than any other major.

  I don't think people really appreciate how hard it is to write well and to understand all the rules in a language. I suspect that if you can master that in English, you can use it in any language.

• by rowanG077 on 5/14/20, 8:47 PM

  The study didn't test for mathematical ability. It tested for numeracy which is completely different.

  The study even shows that most of the variance(34%) is explained by fluid reasoning and working-memory. I'd wager that fluid reasoning is strongly correlated with mathematical ability.

  In my opinion this paper disproves it's stated hypothesis but doesn't realize it.