You Don’t Need To Be Good At Maths To Make Software

This blog is not click-bait, but I sort of hope people don’t necessarily read this post. I hope the title is enough. Maybe it shows up as they’re scrolling through twitter, and the title sticks in their subconscious. Maybe it shows up in a google search. I hope that the title is enough to dispel a myth around software that I had for some time.

Last week, respected indie iOS engineers David Smith and Marco Arment released the latest episode of their bi-weekly app development podcast Under the Radar covering their adventures in Advanced Math. This podcast meant a lot to me personally, and when I tweeted to that effect it received several likes. So my assumption is it means a lot to others too. Here’s why it meant something to me:

I can’t do maths. I can do software.

Any of my colleagues will tell you that I’m not the greatest software engineer in the world, but in the just over two years I’ve been a full-time, professional software engineer I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ve designed and built systems used by millions. I’ve trained junior engineers. I’ve spoken at conferences. I’ve even written a book on software engineering. (That’s enough, this isn’t a job application.)

But still, I can’t do maths.

I’m dyslexic. Dyslexia affects different people in different ways, but for me, it mainly manifests itself in the form of reading, maths, and bizarrely, getting the words white and yellow mixed up 100% of the time. This video…