Language skills more important than math to learn programming, research shows (opens in new tab)

Many years ago I read a study that said English majors were more likely to succeed as programmers than any other major.

I don't think people really appreciate how hard it is to write well and to understand all the rules in a language. I suspect that if you can master that in English, you can use it in any language.

The study didn't test for mathematical ability. It tested for numeracy which is completely different.

The study even shows that most of the variance(34%) is explained by fluid reasoning and working-memory. I'd wager that fluid reasoning is strongly correlated with mathematical ability.

In my opinion this paper disproves it's stated hypothesis but doesn't realize it.