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Comment by mark212

9 years ago

I can't follow the math but the presentation is gorgeous (Safari on a MacBook retina display). Really great, keep up the good work!

4 comments

mark212

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clairity  9 years ago

not following the math is understandable since it only takes a little unfamiliarity to make math seem hard to understand.

but if you've studied linear systems a bit, the math is laid out really well for understanding and turning into practical applications (which seems to be the whole point of distill.pub).

many math articles, in contrast, seem to obfuscate the "why" and the "what for" and concentrate on the theory and derivation (e.g., many wikipedia math articles). that might be great for mathematical elegance (or cynically, oneupsmanship), but not so great for people trying to build things using that valuable knowledge.

hardmaru  9 years ago

Which part of the math did you find difficult to follow?

  • ABCLAW  9 years ago

    Better question: What background is the reader expected to have?

    Until Xi, not a single variable is defined prior to inclusion into an expression. Even Alpha and Beta are only defined in the header diagram rather than the body of the text. Also, why are the iteration notations in the superscript rather than subscript?

    And before someone chimes in and says that rudiments are necessary to understand this work, no they aren't. The logical steps here are exceptionally simple (and intuitive - as the introduction might lead you to believe) once you get past the delivery. This is a fantastic article that could become very accessible with the proper notation housekeeping.