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What is math-as-code?

experience-monks/math-as-code — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

15,481Audience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

In one sentence

A cheat sheet that translates mathematical symbols from academic papers, sigma, Greek letters, hats, and pipes, into working JavaScript code snippets, side by side, for programmers who were never taught formal math notation.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((math-as-code))
    What it does
      Symbol lookup
      Code translation
      Paper decoder
    Math topics
      Summation sigma
      Vector operations
      Sets and logic
      Functions
    Code examples
      JavaScript snippets
      npm mathjs
      Python version
    Audience
      Self-taught devs
      Game developers
      Graphics coders
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Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Decode a formula from a machine-learning or graphics paper by looking up each symbol and copying the matching code snippet.

USE CASE 2

Understand what Greek letters, summation signs, and vector notation mean when reading math-heavy programming tutorials.

USE CASE 3

Build a quick reference for game or graphics math by adapting the provided code examples to your own project.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptmathjs

How does it compare?

experience-monks/math-as-codemml-book/mml-book.github.iomaxwellito/vivus
Stars15,48115,47915,477
LanguageJupyter NotebookJavaScript
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity1/53/52/5
Audiencedeveloperresearcherdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

So what is it?

math-as-code is a reference guide that takes the mathematical notation you see in academic papers, Greek letters, equals signs, sigmas, hats, pipes, and shows what each symbol means by translating it into code. The motivating problem is simple: many self-taught programmers, particularly game and graphics developers, find themselves blocked by papers full of notation they were never formally taught, even when the underlying idea is something they could implement in a few lines. This project bridges the gap by putting the symbol on one side and a working code snippet on the other. It is organized like a cheat sheet, walking through topics one at a time: variable name conventions (italic lowercase for scalars, bold lowercase for vectors, bold uppercase for matrices, italic Greek for constants), the equals family (=, ≠, ≈, :=), square roots and complex numbers, the dot and cross operators for scalar and vector multiplication, sigma for summation, capital pi for products, pipes for absolute value and norms, hats for unit vectors, the "element of" symbol, common number sets, function notation, primes, floor and ceiling, logical arrows, negation, and intervals. Each entry shows the symbol, a short description, and a code snippet, with notes when a symbol means different things in different fields. Some examples use small npm libraries, for instance mathjs for complex-number arithmetic, when JavaScript lacks the operation built in. You would reach for math-as-code when you hit a formula in a paper and want a quick translation rather than a textbook. A Chinese translation and a Python version are also linked from the README. The full README is longer than what was provided.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I found this formula in a paper: [paste formula]. Using math-as-code as a reference, help me implement it in JavaScript step by step.
Prompt 2
Explain what sigma notation means in this equation and show me how to write the summation as a JavaScript loop or reduce call.
Prompt 3
I see a hat symbol over a variable in a paper. Using math-as-code conventions, show me how to compute a unit vector in JavaScript.
Prompt 4
Translate this matrix multiplication expression into Python code, following the naming conventions described in math-as-code.

Frequently asked questions

What is math-as-code?

A cheat sheet that translates mathematical symbols from academic papers, sigma, Greek letters, hats, and pipes, into working JavaScript code snippets, side by side, for programmers who were never taught formal math notation.

How hard is math-as-code to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is math-as-code for?

Mainly developer.

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