Great news! Although Process is probably alien to the way you think, it just so happens that we already have a language for process, so you don’t have to worry about that part of learning Process. It’s a fully developed language, capable of expressing more ideas about Process than anything you are likely to cook up on your own. Even better, you already know this language at a basic level.
Bad news! The language is…
I concede that math is not many people’s idea of fun. In fact, most people would rather swallow some ghastly medicine that learn math.
Let’s be honest: our minds are not made for math; mathematical thinking is unnatural. Mathematics requires you to twist your mind around in all sorts of unnatural ways. Math does to our minds what yoga does to our bodies:
But you don’t need to learn advanced mathematics to design great software.
So put aside your worst fears. All you really need is high school algebra and trigonometry:
The most complicated stuff you’ll need will probably look something like this:
Do you remember the penultimate scence in the original Matrix movie? Neo bursts into the room where the phone is ringing but Agent Smith is waiting for him:
Agent Smith kills Neo.
But then Trinity brings Neo back to life with the power of true love.
Neo stands up, looks down the hall, and realizes that the truth of the Matrix is numbers:
Realizing that truth gives Neo the power to stop bullets.
That’s the kind of power that you can have when you learn how to use mathematics to articulate your ideas inside a computer. You can become a tiger who can swim.
The moral of this story: Suck it up and learn how to USE mathematics in your designs.