Wow. This post is a revelation for me. I have frequently explained to people that have bothered to ask (and probably a few who didn't) that the reason I love programming has a lot to do with my love of language - the elegant syntax, the rules and their exceptions. Despite rigorous math training (I'm an electrical engineering student), until now I had never been able to see it as more than a means to an end. I hated math classes so much, but they allowed me to do interesting things with electricity so I put up with them. On occasion, I have maybe been struck by a part of what this person is referring to, but this puts it together in a way that I had never really understood before.

Thanks.