I've been pondering how math and physics often have foundational concepts, like the conservation of energy, that help simplify complex real-world problems into intuitive ideas. I'm curious if there are similar 'first principles' in the realm of computer systems and programming that serve this purpose—what are they?
5 Answers
Check out this video on 'The Most Beautiful Program Ever Written'. It discusses how the basic Lisp interpreter can be seen as 'Maxwell's Equations of Software'. It touches on lambda calculus, which could certainly be seen as a foundational principle in programming.
You can break it down to input, output, and control structures like 'if' statements or 'while' loops. It’s all about how you control the flow based on the input you receive!
In programming, you could think of something like 'input > magic > output'. It's a simple framework, but make sure your input is correct; otherwise, you'll end up with errors. There’s a bit of a magic element to it, too!
Turing machines are a solid example of first principles in computer science. They offer a fundamental perspective on computation. Lambda calculus is another one; they're both foundational and logically equivalent, though they approach problems from different angles.
That's interesting! Do you think these principles measure up to the ones in physics?
A Nand gate is also a crucial first principle. It's one of the simplest logic gates, yet it can form the basis for all digital circuits.
Haha, I guess I need to dig up some spell books!