Sussman has an interesting video on Google Video ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2726904509434151616 ) where he basically says you don't really understand nor communicate something unambiguously until you do it in software.
He gives examples of English speaking and even mathematical notation where every day "mistakes" are made that could never be formalized. The only reason no one catches them is because we all have a base of common knowledge to decode from. Sussman even went so far as to create a physics book that teaches concepts by explaining with *software*. I think he may be onto something cs -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
