On Thu, Feb 01, 2007 at 09:24:03 +0000, Dougal Stanton wrote: [..]
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that, like Feynman's example of how people count in their heads, both of these explanations are accurate. If I were to explain the process to someone it would be in the imperative style: literally "giving commands", which is what a recipe is. But in my mind I imagine it as the gradual process of stirring milk into a base, which is far more adequately described in the functional style.
The question is --- how would an expert describe such a process? Would a professional chef give instructions in the functional or imperative style? I think that is relevant, since the approach to the problem may change depending on proficiency. We may *learn* in the imperative style but *think* in the functional.
There may be something in what you say. I kind of like it :-) Of course it makes me wonder if we have to _learn_ how to _learn_ in the functional style. I am convinced _some_ people are able to learn in that way, I doubt all are. /M -- Magnus Therning (OpenPGP: 0xAB4DFBA4) magnus@therning.org Jabber: magnus.therning@gmail.com http://therning.org/magnus