11–20 of 32 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, I'm not shocked either. Mathematicians and scientists have no formal training in programming (at least in the UK). They're expected just to pick it up and get on with it. They don't generally put in the necessary hours like the "self taught programmer" does, because they're generally not interested in programming itself. It's just a calculational annoyance that gets in the way.
> Mathematicians and scientists have no formal training in programming (at least in the UK). They're expected just to pick it up and get on with it. That's an unreasonable generalisation. For one thing, many university courses in science and mathematics do seem to incorporate basic programming training these days, either as part of the course, or via other facilities that the university makes available to those takin…
Now I can't speak for the engineers at the same university. As far as I know they were given excellent training in C++. But simply, the mathematicians did not take programming seriously, so I'm not surprised of the low quality of the implemented models.
The only thing they got wrong was where I said I was 'shocked'. I'm not shocked, I'm surprised, and disappointed by the quality of the code.
And this poor code leads to temperature data sets that could be flawed - data sets that form the foundation under the climate models and the conclusions of the IPCC reports. These reports in turn are used by many countries to base policy on. Are governments basing policy on flawed science?
Having source code reviews via Newsnight is the ultimate confirmation in my mind that all of this should have been open source from the beginning. It would be trivial, and cost CRU nothing, to set up an open source project which would render scandals such as this impossible. A subject like global warming is potentially of such high importance that it shouldn't be left to cowboy programmers to process the data. I coul…
The only thing they got wrong was where I said I was 'shocked'. I'm not shocked, I'm surprised, and disappointed by the quality of the code.
No, I'm not shocked either. Mathematicians and scientists have no formal training in programming (at least in the UK). They're expected just to pick it up and get on with it. They don't generally put in the necessary hours like the "self taught programmer" does, because they're generally not interested in programming itself. It's just a calculational annoyance that gets in the way.
Just as important, like other forms of scientific experimentation, work based on computer analysis needs to be independently reproducable. A big part of that is to make the source code and data available to other researchers (ideally, to the public at large) and well-documented.
It seems like the CRU people failed in both areas.
Having source code reviews via Newsnight is the ultimate confirmation in my mind that all of this should have been open source from the beginning. It would be trivial, and cost CRU nothing, to set up an open source project which would render scandals such as this impossible. A subject like global warming is potentially of such high importance that it shouldn't be left to cowboy programmers to process the data. I coul…
All software used in science should be open source, because if it isn't, the science isn't repeatable.
You're on the right track, but need to narrow down the wording some.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Mathematicians and scientists have no formal training in programming (at least in the UK). They're expected just to pick it up and get on with it. That's an unreasonable generalisation. For one thing, many university courses in science and mathematics do seem to incorporate basic programming training these days, either as part of the course, or via other facilities that the university makes available to those takin…
I'm talking from my experience of attending the most highly regarded mathematics undergraduate programme in the UK. There was basic programming training, but the emphasis was on the "basic". There was absolutely no emphasis placed on writing maintainable code. We (in fact "they": I didn't attend the classes) were simply taught some technical details of C. In fact I think the number of hours of teaching time was singl…
That's a bold claim. Which undergraduate programme would that be, and by whom is it the most highly regarded in the UK?
The unveilings of the CRU materials now also caused Al Gore to cancel his talk at Copenhagen. http://www.examiner.com/x-11224-Baltimore-Weather-Examiner~y...
Most of the linked article other than the first two sentences (1) is bullshit and (2) has nothing to do with the cancellation of Gore's slideshow and book signing.