[amelius]

> One of the things I'm always struck by is how similar the process of writing code is to writing a math paper.

Except when coding you never have to write down any proofs :)

> the math that comes up in software tends to be routine, easy stuff.

Software is easy until it grows big.

Math is often elegant because the problem can usually be stated in a concise way. In contrast, software usually has an ever growing list of requirements. It is balancing those requirements that makes software difficult.

[posterboy]

TDD is proof by construction

[merlincorey]

TDD is very far from [formal] proofs.

[ben_w]

Out of interest, how close are formal methods to the mathematical standard for proofs? VDM-SL was part of my degree, but the lecturer ended up showing more limitations than strengths by getting his own example wrong, and sadly I've had no real-life experience with them because none of my career to date has involved things that need to be proven correct.

[posterboy]

That's shifting the goal post. But sure, jesuslop's pointer to the Curry-Howard-correspondance is closer to the meat.