[hyperpallium]

Because I started programming before taking maths at school, I didn't properly appreciate equality for a while.

Sure, algebra was fine, a(x+y)=ax+ay can go either way; but not ratios and other relationships.

What helped me was was geometry, where you can see it's just a relationship. All the components move together; one part isn't priviledged as the result.

e.g. you enlarge a circle. It doesn't make sense to ask whether the radius made the circumference bigger, or the circumference made the radius bigger.

[golergka]

I remember starting with QBasic when I was around 7 or 8 years old, and I quickly got an idea – just put in the equations from math homework to find out the answer! Fighting through the error messages without English and trying to wrap my mind around the basic concepts of procedural programming was a world of pain.

[nitrogen]

Nice. I had fun in some junior high math competitions in part by writing TI BASIC programs on my calculator to brute force hard problems while I did the easy ones. Eventually they stopped allowing calculators altogether and focused on cheap memorized tricks instead of generalized problem solving.

[nitrogen]

I'm curious what prompted two people to disagree with this comment so quickly, with no comment.

[gaurav_v]

I didn't downvote, but the reason is likely because your comment is off-topic. The parents are talking about experiences un-learning one-sided equality that they picked up programming before learning algebra; your comment is about programming a T-83 to help with schoolwork.