I've found that many people who are unfazed by thousands of lines of C++ code are freaked out by a formula like (1). This is a handicap that prevents them from taking full advantage of mathematics, one of the greatest achievements of mankind. I hope that building it up step by step allowed you to see how simple formula (1) is. Read the formula again, and again, until it feels familiar. The way to overcome fear of mathematics is by learning to use it, and using PlusCal will teach you to use math.