Is coding important when studying physics? 

Let's be honest, programming is a damn useful skill to have regardless of your interests.

How do you manage to smile all the time?

the way of your speaking is just so comfortable

I'd say computer science is getting more and more usefull in most scientific domain. As a chemist, I wish computer science was integrated in my program. I might try to learn some coding by myself! Also nice find on that little studio!

I've recently started doing coding in Unreal engine, which is typically used for video games, but it's amazing how well it can be used for visualizing data, and doing simulations, in particular when speed is required.

The most gentle woman on the internet

I self-taught some programming during the eighties, but I wish I had some kind of dedicated computer science course during my biology studies in the nineties. I eventually ended up a programmer anyway. :-)

I definitely understand how you felt when you started learning coding. I am in my senior year of college and am only now starting to learn my first language. It is super discouraging when other people in my degree are 3-4 years ahead of me in programming :\

I'm doing my phd in mathematics and I feel this so much haha going into my undergrad I was dead set on studying abstract algebra and topology however, it was required for the Honour's math students to take 3 computer science courses which I initially dreaded because my knowledge of computer science was quite limited. However, my prof for my first course was phenomenal and I decided to do a minor in comp sci which lead me to eventually discover the exciting world of cryptography and cryptanalysis an area that I did several semesters worth of research in.

Very well said -- although I might be biased (being a software engineer), I think I would go even further -- programming is rapidly becoming a type of literacy, just like basic mathematical and language literacy. I think just about everyone on the planet lucky enough to have access to computers has had that experience of being bored while doing tedious, repetitive work on their computer (spreadsheets, anyone?). This is kind of a ridiculous situation, because as you point out, computers are there to do our bidding, if only we could all speak their language. If you can offload all that repetitive work onto your computer by programming it to do so, you can be far more successful and productive in both your personal and professional lives -- and this applies to almost *any* career.

I love the way she talks, so perfect!!

Lol, I am in love with Computer Science/Programming...and I'm a Linguistics and Philosophy post-graduate! (go figure the link). I enjoy learning about Physics is my pastime however. It seems to me that anyone can enjoy CS as long as they are curious about how machines/computers work. The more you apply your knowledge, the better you become at it, enjoy it and start to see how relevant it can be to different situations. "Coding" is only the "clerical" part of Programming, not the main bit. To me, the real-kick of Programming is about finding solutions to problems, coding is only about writing these solutions in the languages of the chosen soft/hardware.

Must be annoying when you're trying to talk about physics and people just talk about your hair and looks in the comments.

She's got a fantastic soothing voice, I can almost forget all the troubles I have :D

I am running to the opposite direction. I am an expert in programming and working as a freelancer. But I stopped learning physics, maths and chemistry after my 10th. And I am missing them. Now planning to gain those knowledge. I am sure that those are very much useful for programmers.

I'm a programmer and I approve this message. Also, your smile is so contagious! 😊

very nice to hear commentary on these fields of study, not just their value, but how the presenter feels about having studied them. Extremely useful information

Fascinating to hear your perspective as someone who started programming during their degree. Although I never had that experience with programming (I was literally programming a Commodore 64 at the same time I learned to read as a child), I am absolutely having similar problems with foreign languages right now - needing re-explanation of concepts which native speakers may consider basic but which I've never needed to think about in my own tongue. From the sound of things, you had an easier time with picking up programming as an adult than I've been having with German. :)

This video is what I was searching for in all my life. I'm on high school studying computer science but I also really like physics (especially theorical physics) and it's been a long time I'm asking myself "Why am I studing computer science? I really like it but what about physics...?". Now I've finally got the answare, thank you. I will never know how a simple video on RU-vid changed my life, but I hope you will see this. Also, funny thing that we are studying C language but I always liked Python more than everything else.

I highly recommend this advice...as a Masters student in Mathematics, I now see how important having coding skills is...I’m currently learning R in addition to my courses...I wish I’d known this earlier.

Nowadays, Companies don't even require a college degree to hire programmers, which indicates that in the future, people looking for jobs might just teach themselves programming and apply for jobs, and those who can show they understand programming concepts well enough will be hired. I spent 4 years in Computer Science to get my Bachelors, only to learn that companies are hiring anyone who can show that they are a skilled programmer. Which is a bummer for me, because i didn't learn any significant programming in college, instead, we went deep into concepts and theories of Computation, rather than Programming. I had to teach my self API, HTML, JavaScript, Networking, Querying Languages, Mobile Development, etc... If i knew that College was a waste of time, especially if you wanted to learn something, because professors usually don't teach, they expect the students to study on their own, i would have never spent money on a degree that anyone can apply for as long as they know good amount of programming. I am planning on just becoming an entrepreneur in the near future.

She speaks so clearly and sweet! i mean i am a non native english speaker, and sometimes i have troubles when listening to native speakers they speak a little bit odd, but listening to this girl is so satisfying and relaxing and tranquil and omg...

pyhsics + python = Scipy

I see now why a friend who was majoring in physics decided to pick up a comp sci minor, since as a Chem Eng I only knew how coding could be used for my own computational problems

Hey, good advice; I have personally taken a lot of IT courses and I must say a deeper understanding of coding is really useful practically, so I recommend it. PS: you're really pretty

The number of times you say "kind of", "type of" and "sort of" is not normal. But is is satisfying to hear your voice for some reason, plus the videos are about maths and science so it's a win win. :)

I love you. This is the first word I got I'm my mind after clicking on the title and watching you speaking about coding and computer science stuff. Thank you so much for the videos. Omg!! I love you again 😍

You have such a soothing voice. I wish I had teachers like you

Coding is like other professions. Hammering is not easy at first, bur as you do it more and more, you get skilled at it. Coding is a bit more complicated than that. For physicist, what matters most is a deep understanding on your field. With that deep understanding, all you gotta do is ti study some basics on coding such as programming langusges and data structures. This doesn't make you a fully seasoned professional programmer but you don't need that and that should be enough for you to get started. Reiterating my point, what matters most is a firm idea om what you do, not the coding skill.

Her voice is so calming

Algorithms + data structures = programming. Data structures are the objects to be worked on, algorithms are the glue that binds everything together. In solving a problem you generally think of the data structure(s) first, the type of structure chosen will then inform you of the shape of the algorithm that is going to process it. To my mind, the term 'coding' is akin to translation, i.e. taking an existing programming in one language and translating into another. Programming is a skill that does not rely on any one language, knowing how to use a particular programming language does not necessarily mean you can program. If you understand the fundamentals of data structure and algorithm then you can program in any language, it's just a matter of learning it's syntax.

Basically all her videos are masterclasses in "how to smile when you're speaking" and how incredibly effective is if you wanna have a good impact on other people :)

I do believe that the "How to Code: Simple Data" course (and its accompanying courses) from edX could be enormously useful for anyone, whether they are familiar with programming or not. The best thing about it (for me), is that it really teaches you program design, which I haven't really seen in any beginner programming course or book; also, the material is well thought out, and the staff really know what they are doing. (An edX account is needed to watch the course, but as of writing this, both registration and the course itself is free of charge.)

Her happpiness flows everywhere through the monitor! :')

I am a freshman in physics major and I started to learn coding by myself this summer. I learned C language with edX. I really recommend the programming course by Dartmouth collage. This semester I'll take python course in my collage. They said that C language is the base of many programming languages and if I master it then other languages become much more easier to learn. We'll see. : )

I love Unity and C#, it's used for games mainly but your imagination is the limit.

As a CS undergrad I find the perpestives of non CS people about programming really interesting. How they talk about learning to program and what the various concepts mean to that are my bread & butter

Thank you for making going to school for physics feel less intimidating :)

Most people think that coding and computer science means learning a *language*. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Computer Science is in fact a way of *thinking*. Languages like python and java are only tools to express that. Therefore, don't get scared of getting into this field. If you are smart, and enjoy puzzle-solving, you will fit right in.

Coding must be a skill we at least master before finishing high school Like language instead of useless “ second language “ that we only know two words from worth 6 years of studying

As a matter of fact, you don't need any background in CS to start coding. Also python eases learning coding for non-professional programmers a lot.

She is sooo cute

For everyone. Coding/Programming isn't hard if you can think. It can take time to learn but once you know how to do, it's easier. Advanced math/physics aren't required (the base is required). Just test, learn and enjoy !

Am doing computer science and what I find most amazing is that there are enormous amount of things u can do with the computer as long as you can speak it’s language...lav it a lot.

Python is a very good programming language, up and coming now that the bridge between java and python is being closed with the interpreter getting alternatives that java uses (I think it is JET? JTA? Something along that abbreviation, basically doesn’t slow much when you get to larger amounts of codes and just larger projects in general, which is the main reason big companies chose java over python in the first place), and is much easier to get a hold of and then later improve yourself upon. With the incredible amount of libraries too being added to python, the things you can now program are becoming less and less restricted. Python is a great learners tool, even with kids it can be an easy start, then shines it’s usefulness as you get to make use of complex functions, classes etc. Although python is generally revered as “good to start, but only for the start”, it is having increase applications. People seem to think java is the best of all, or that c++ is. But here’s something: all programming languages work in their own domains. They’re all unique, different purposes, and while some excel more than others in particular areas, others will be superior in where they fall weak. Just because you hear of a popular language, doesn’t mean it should be superior.

I keep trying to ignore programming but it keeps popping up in my life, its like a nightmare, I really really really dont want to do it 😩

I agree with this. My specialty in Physics is Condensed Matter experiment, and I've realized that a lot of non-physics courses are extremely helpful in making progress in the lab, programming being one of those. Also, in my particular case, 3D modelling is useful to, when you will inevitably have to design a very specific part to implement in an apparatus. In fact, I think the interesting Physics really comes in once you've gotten results from the experiment, which could take years to get to.

I was aphysics/math undergrad, and picked up programming while developing a better understanding of Fourier Analysis, Orbital Dynamics, and the Least Squares method. Figuring out why my programs didn't work led me to a much better understanding of startup conditions for numerical integration (see the "Hidden Figures" movie), and the details of formal logic. I switched to computer science for grad school, and did a master's thesis around digital vs. analog integrators in a robotics lab. Upon graduation, I was able to combine all three fields for a career of medical device development and validated software implementation in the health field. Great opportunities, very pleasant career. From the other perspective, if you plan on doing games or special effects programming, you'd benefit highly from classes in physics and math.

Only me or is she sooooo goddamn beautiful? Holy

Coding is important for everything and everyone. I use it as a music teacher and I love it.

As a computer engineering student, good job with taking further courses. Data structures and algorithm analysis are challenging to most especially for someone who already had their hands full with physics. You are stronger than you look

I don't understand why people still use Matlab now that Python has everything and more. It feels old and because of its license you cannot take it everywhere you go. Kind of sad... By the way starting early is quite enjoyable. I learn programming in school. Not on the full level it was like part drag and drop GUI but you still needed code :)

being able to code also allows one to improve their daily live you can adjust every website you come upon(to a reasonable degree) and also program smal tools for repetitive tasks whenever you feel annoyed by doing the samae thing over and over again

I watch this video one year later... Not only because I love all videos of this channel, but because I began my Master Thesis two weeks ago to conclude my astrophysics studies, and programming is a crucial nay the main part of my work! The irony is that I learned C++ 2-3 years ago while I saw Python last year, yet I program in C++ for my Master Thesis. So I quite agree with advice of this video :D

I'm in love with your hair

I'm a software engineer. And I want to get into astronomy and physics. And I have no idea how can I get into this field or study or master

The highly touted coding curriculum for schools in New York City has mostly failed for reasons they had not expected-kids aren't able to sit and concentrate for a long enough time. STEM programs are failing because students don't have enough of the most basic skills. Fortunately we have immigrant kids to take up the slack.

When taking an algorithms class (Dr. Sedgewick's Princeton class), one of the projects was simulating interactions of particles in galaxies. You have to keep track of many particles, and a tree structure that used a different dimension at each level - at the top, the x dimension, the next the y dimension, and the third the z dimension, then repeat for each lower level. Then you can keep track of over 1 million particles with just 20 levels of search. Consider a computer animation of the collision of two galaxies. Think of the computing power required for the simulation of the interaction of billions of particles. Any field of astronomy requires at least an appreciation of computer algorithms.

Hi Toby, what you did as your first research project in your degree (the cubesat to process images from galaxies) sounds very interesting. Did you write a report on the topic? I would love to read or hear more about your work. I'm an undergraduate student in engineering physics and I like everything related to aerospace, physics and astronomy. Thank you for reading my comment :)

You're beautiful! :)

You are so good at explaining things!!

May I have that braid? It's gorgeous.

I had C and C++ during my first year at Uni. Didnt like coding much cause probably of the lecturer being an inefficient teacher herself combined with my lack of interest. But over the years in my work that I do, I find computer science to have such an importance in fulfilling many of the intricacies which makes me wish I had taken coding a bit more seriously. Nice presentation.

I would like to see somebody show the actual path that the moon takes as it makes it's way around the sun... not around the earth, but the actual path it takes to get around the sun, and the point of observation could be from above (with the sun in the center of the display). Many people who consider this initially assume the moon would make a path around the sun that would appear to look like a curly Q due to the fact that the moon goes around the earth on it's way around the sun, but this is not the case. If the moon went around the earth once every hour lets say, then the path of the moon would appear to be like a curly Q as it goes around and around the earth on the way around the sun. However, as you know, the moon takes roughly 28 days in order to make it's way around the earth, and the earth is moving so fast, the moon never makes a loop back upon it's own path. Because the moon takes about a month to get around the earth, this means that the earth will travel roughly 1/12th of the total distance the earth needs to go to get around the sun, and since the earth and moon travel together, the moon also travels roughly 1/12th of the total path around the sun with each orbit around the earth. So here is where this gets a bit interesting: Not only does the moon never loop back upon it self, the moon is at all times turning in towards the sun... at no time does the moon's path turn convex and turn away from the sun -- the moons path is always concave -- always turning in towards the sun. You have probably heard about the path that Venus takes to get around the sun [google path of venus and look at images] it makes a path that is like a 5 pointed flower - it is quite extraordinary. I have a hunch that the path the moon takes around the sun also makes a design that is quite amazing, but I have yet to see any image or video showing what the path would look like. I have a suspicion that the path of the moon when viewed from above the sun - I have a feeling that it will look like a 12 or 13 sided polygon with sides of equal length, with the moon going up and down as it travels along that line. If you have ever heard of Pringle's potato chips (they are a somewhat flat potato chip sold in a tube and they are stacked upon each other - they are not flat though - they are curved up on two opposing edges and curved down on the other two opposing edges), I have a feeling that the true actual path of the moon follows a path that would resemble the shape of a pringles potato chip. The important thing to understand is the moon is always turning in towards the sun - it never turns away from the sun.... So I think it would be really interesting to get a look at what exactly the path of the moon turns out to be. I'm not sure if you have been exposed to the idea yet, but there is a growing number of scientists who have come to the conclusion that the moon seems not to be natural... This is because of the way the same side of the moon always faces Earth, and also due to the fact that the relative size of the moon and the sun are the same when viewed from earth [ during an eclipse the moon perfectly covers the sun and sometimes there is the ring of fire... some people think the odds against this happening by random chance are astronomical - pun intended. This is why many people believe the moon was constructed by someone or something perhaps our ancient ancestors. If it should happen to turn out that the path of the moon is some sort of amazing geometric shape then this would be another amazing thing to be aware of. Perhaps you could use that video room to show the path of the moon.

I recently switched my major to Software Engineering from Physics, because of certain events I needed to find a major I can get a degree in online. I absolutely love physics, it's the most important subject out there in my opinion (no offense to the other majors), and I intend on returning to physics through grad school. After watching this video and thinking of whether or not I was switching to the right major that can help me later down the line (with physics really), I think I'm making the right decision. Thank you for this! :)

If you're truly interested in computing then take a tip, look at functional programming. There are no 'variables'. The 'programming' you learned is referred to as 'imperative' and is the antithesis of mathematics. Take a look at lambda calculus (a very different model to Turing machines).

I don't know very much about mathematics, or physics or astronomy but I think you could have a great future as a presenter - a public face - of these subjects.

Literally happened to me. Started with physics, now doing compsci! Now I kinda miss all the maths, and the abstract thinking (most compsci course gravitate more towards engineering than computability theory or whatnot), so I'm gonna do a minor in Quantum Mechanics and Computing! Seriously tho, being able to program is a must like almost everywhere at this point. And it's also just loads of fun! :)

I’m also developing a type of CubeSat right now... it’s mainly just a lot of coding and hardware engineering, but I do love physics.

I always felt that knowing how to code in a computer was as important as knowing how to program your scientific calculator. It can help in automating things in solving recurring problems in a given field, but first, you have to go the extra length and write the program down and carefully and logically think how you're going to achieve that. Basically, you have to learn a whole new language and way of thinking (programming) in order to automate and solve problems in another language (physics, biology, video games etc)

I am 40 years old, and learning to code. I have come to realize it is an important skill for any career field. I would suggest any younger person learn it now, then to wait until later, although it certainly has given me a fresh challenge. My kids are learning coding in their STEM school from the elementary level, and I think it is great.

I always used to believe, and still do, that you don't really understand a problem until you can write a computer program to do it. Programming is a discipline for the mind too. It's unforgiving of sloppy approaches and, like problems in physics itself, there is a degree of beauty and elegance in solving a problem the right way. The right solution is economical and used general, not special cases. Of course, once you get out into commercial computing, those special cases in dealing with the real world never go away, but getting the core solution and model right is still key, and programming physical models is a pretty good way to gain that discipline. In my time I always felt I could see into the way a programmer would think and analyse by reading code they had written.

Learning to code teaches you how to think in a different way, and you can use this way of thinking in different area's.

Degree in computer science and then specialized in astronomy? How do you do that without knowing physics?

I enjoy data analysis, cryptography, and computer surveillance a lot. So coding is a must have. The problem I've encountered is that I don't know anything about coding, or computer science or any of the things I'm interested in practically. I have only just started watching lectures and videos on youtube about these topics. The university I go to doesn't even offer courses in data analysis or computer surveillance. They only offer classes in computer science or computer information systems. Does anyone have advice about this? Should I just start taking classes in one of these two subjects first?

Programming computers, in general, is becoming required for many professions. Learning programming allows you to tell your computer exactly what *you* want it to do, instead of allowing *other* people telling it what to do which may not be correct (and which is essentially happening when you use someone else's software.)

Some people naturally smile as it is part of their personality, not forced at all :)

Instant fan. Subscribed!

This is very nice and insightful really well done.

The truckers have a saying - "The rubber has to meet the road". This refers to the actual job of delivering the goods to the other end. Only a large computer can actually solve a real-world 3-D space problems, involving systems of physics equations having non-linear coefficients, such as an 11th-order Hilbert Space model. "Delivering the goods" here means convergence, and to get convergence many of the non-linear coefficients must be re-written a Taylor series etc and then the series truncated to prevent intractability according to the Barkhausen criterion. Doing all this requires a very experienced Fortran, C++, or other type of programmer who also has a deep mathematics background. In addition to these considerations, many scientific computers have bad round-off or truncation rules which can severely limit the accuracy of the solution. The computer needs to be tested to generate well-known constants (pi, SQRT(2), etc) to discover these defects, if exist. Depending on the problem model, the computer may need to be accurate to 20 digits in order for the answer to be accurate to 6 digits.

How long is her hair?..... it must be hard to wash it. unless you use quantum shampoo. :)

Although at first python was a thorn to me, compared to matlab and other CS languages, python has slowly won me over because of how simple and easy it really is to code providing you know what you're doing. That is also true for many languages but to each their own!

Thanks very much for this learning video. You cleared my few doubts and showed me a path

You have to learn how to code in almost any work relating to science these days.

That studio is so cool. I had no idea how important coding was for a physicist until my internship last summer.

Coding just seems booring.. I would only do it if I had too. Like if you did electronic engineering you have to do some programming because the robots or electronics you make will depend on computers of some type.

*GOD FUCKING DAMNIT WHY IS SHE SO GODDAMN GORGEOUS!!!*

I did my doctoral work in microbiology and am firmly of the belief that any field utilizing large amounts of data benefits when it's practioners can code. Whether you're doing image analysis in astronomy or numerical data science, the utility of computational approaches just cannot be matched

scipy(python) is surely one of the best library for physics and calculus besides sympy, ouh and one last thing, python is a really useful language for any sort of math thanks to its numerous libraries, and are definitely beginner friendly, it may be x27 more slower than C but it's definitely worth learning cuz it'll save way more time for you to learn the essential algorithms than to learn the complex structures of C itself

Hello Tibees! I am currently enrolled in a BSc CS degree and I'm hoping to get into Astrophysics from it. Is it advisable to also do a BSc in Astrophysics or is it possible to go straight to a Msc in Astrophysics from CS and just learn as much as I can before I get there? or will just a few courses here and there help me in the long run? Thank you for your time

but I think it is better to learn the physics/math/engineering in school than teach yourself that part instead of coding cause in my opinion coding is easier to learn(depends unless ur debugging stuff that has zero documentation ) than algebra,physics,probability and classrooms don't always teach the upto date with prog stuff and prog stuff is also always changing and u wont know how to use the tools if u dont know the math

This awesome to know! Thanks!

I worked for a computer game company at the advent of 3D graphics, when there was a flood of physicists because of the requirement for maths models. We got 3 PHDs who I think were just required to teach themselves C as a matter of course. Almost like going to work in another country and being required to speak a different language, it was an inconvenience more than a degree. Two became god power and the last was kind of in his own world. If you spoke to him in general alertness he seemed slower than most regular people to be honest. PHD physicist still, but for whatever reason, slow or so he seemed.. The two god power guys just adapted, whether there is relative aptitude, or just the fact that you're going to need to be seriously clever so the code was easy I don't know.

Some coding must be useful in all the natural and social sciences nowadays. I'm in linguistics but those of us who know them get a lot of use out of R, Python, AWK, etc.

MATLAB is fantastic for prototyping; for large-scale simulations, Python or C++ are nice and ubiquitous, though if I'm feeling old-fashioned, I actually prefer Fortran :P

Wow, greatly love your channel

Haha my Electromchanical Engineering degree ended up being integrated with computer science in every single course. Beyond the comp sci, robotics and control systems courses. Even in the most unrelated coursework to compsci in the program (statics, solid mechanics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, material science, electrical circuits) we had to write at least one algorithm a week for solving a mechanics problem.

Thank you so much ..l was sure that is an important relation between physics and coding😍...i had been started to learn coding 4months ago 😀..

Yes. Gather Technology knowledge is essential. I am a programmer and I am working on Some Science Theories. But I understand how technology is very useful to understand science. We know it is miracle. Maths that connects both.

Yes, absolutely, coding is important for physicists and astronomers. Critical! And more importantly, one needs expertise on numerical analysis -- the boundary between mathematics and the limits of encoding, processing and modeling data in computers.