A data-centric introduction to computing | Hacker News Reader

A data-centric introduction to computing

dcic-world.org

82 pointsibobev14 comments

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If you want a real (/s) data centric view on computing check out this talk https://youtube.com/watch?v=2VF_wPkiBJY

data is code, code is data

Very well said !! data is code

I get the code is data thing, but not sure on the data is code thing unless you have a odd definition of code

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NmWwRmvjAE8

this is a different version of the talk where perhaps this duality becomes clearer at the end

I wish there was a behavior-centric introduction to computing (bcic-world.org).

Behavior first, data second.

Data is passive, it cannot process itself.

Algorithms (list of sequential steps) are a very poor way to describe behavior. But, unfortunately, this is how computer science is taught today.

How would you describe behaviour?

Activities, workflows, business processes, rule engines, decision tables, state machines, Actor Model / Agent-based Modeling (ABM) / Multi-Agent Systems, RL, etc.

That list reminds me of the various kinds of Behavioral UML Diagrams.

UML The Good Parts: MSD (Message Sequence Diagrams) and Statecharts (nested FSMs). These two are the only useful parts of the UML, Class Diagrams are only useful for teaching, the rest is useless garbage.

But MSD is still can only describe a very basic behavior. Its only advantage over algorithms is that it’s more visual and adds a notion of a participant/actor.

If we’re talking about notation for describing behavior, then I prefer EventStorming for big picture, and Event Modeling for SW design. BPMN is also interesting, but much more technical and opionated. IMO it’s only useful if you’re already using a BPMN-based orchestration middleware.

Real-life workflows can be very complex, async, unordered, and non-deterministic. Just look at all manual bureaucratic processes that surround our daily life.

Maybe comm protocols?

Do you mean to use message passing in order to describe behavior between actors/agents/participants?

Or maybe you mean teaching the actual communication protocols like HTTP,FTP,SMTP,etc.?

2 chapters in. Very good and makes you think. Truly impressive way of teaching how data is pivotal. The introduction reminds me of Peter Norvig's talk. I also like the point below of data is code, it is very profound.

As a language designer building a platform, the introduction, organization, and writing are inspiring me how to shape my book.

It's pretty, and it made me curious about pyret.

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