Flow Proofs and SSIS

Yesterday I was finishing up a SQL Server Integration Studio (SSIS) project and my youngest son came into my office. He is taking Geometry and mentioned that my computer program looked like a "flow proof." I thought his comment was interesting because computer programming reminds me a lot of proofs from back when I took geometry.

In computer programming, you have a starting point and a final ending. The idea is to get from the start to the end using a limited number of simple steps. That sounds a lot like geometry proofs to me. Unfortunately nobody ever has any fond memories of geometry class. So when I explain the similarities between coding and proofs, it turns people off from wanting to be a computer programmer.

Last night when I told my son that my project was a lot like flow proofs, he laughed at me, called me a nerd, and headed up to dinner. I followed him and thought about what makes coding more rewarding than math homework. While it is nice to get paid for work, there is more to it than just money. I think there is a sense of satisfaction when you build something and computer programming gives you that chance.

I also thought about how much computer programming and math are alike. Before colleges and universities had dedicated computer programming majors, it was the electrical engineers that built the computers but the math majors that would often end up programming them. Even now, most comptuer programming majors are an extension of the math department. My own Dad was a math major and his first job out of college was as a computer programmer.

This afternoon I thought about the relationship between math and software and came to the conclusion that the guys that designed the SSIS really had fun in geometry class. However I'm not sure it is a good method to try and get the computer to do what I want.