[grepherder]

OK - I stand corrected, actually rereading what I wrote it came out a bit strong ("doesn't have anything to do with"), it does have more than a bit even, true.

Concerning the other point, it's also true but it's something else entirely. I never meant a mathematician will outdo someone with software engineering education, obviously he will at least have to read about good software engineering practices. I can also confirm your experience, from firsthand account even, as someone who began coding to do basic applied math. Thinking mathematically generally leads to (at best) efficient but unreadable, one-time-use-only code.