Is Programming == Math?

Posted by moffdub on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by moffdub
Published on 2008-09-26T03:11:29Z Indexed on 2010/03/13 1:37 UTC
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I've heard many times that all programming is really a subset of math. Some suggest that OO, at its roots, is mathematically based. I don't get the connection. Aside from some obvious examples:

  • using induction to prove a recursive algorithm
  • formal correctness proofs
  • functional languages
  • lambda calculus
  • asymptotic complexity
  • DFAs, NFAs, Turing Machines, and theoretical computation in general
  • the fact that everything on the box is binary

In what ways is programming really a subset of math?

I'm looking for an explanation that might have relevance to enterprise/OO development (if there is a strong enough connection, that is). Thanks in advance.

Edit: as I stated in a comment to an answer, math is uber important to programming, but what I struggle with is the "subset" argument.

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