>3
I'm trying to major in computer science and the math requirement is very high. Math has never been my strong point either. So I'm just curious.
If math is really such a large requirement, I might not be able to pursue it as a major.
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Anonymous2008-05-05 2:35
computer science is applied math.
if you do not want to be a mathematician then don't do cs
surely they have some information systems degree you can get to make your web pages and enterprise apps
>>5 the math requirement is very high If math is really such a large requirement
You just answered your own question. Even if programming doesn't ``really'' require a lot of math skills, you'll need to do well at math to get into your major and graduate. You fail at basic logical thinking, and you would fail at computer science as well.
I think we need to re-read the question. From what I can tell he isn't asking how much math he needs to get his degree in cs. Neither is he asking how much math is needed to become a great programmer. To start programming you will need very little math, you'll get far by elementary school math. If you choose to continue you will, at some point, need to be familiar with some of the elements of more advanced classes, though.
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Anonymous2008-05-05 13:39
In order to understand elementary programming topics you won't need anything like calculus, but a solid understanding of algebra goes a long way.
OP, do you have a bad track record with math because you're bad at arithmetic, or because you have difficulty thinking in an abstract manner? If the reason is the latter, then, yes you're going to have some trouble.
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Anonymous2008-05-05 14:04
What you need is three things:
1. Great knowledge of advanced mathematics as algebra and functions.
2. Logistic thinking.
3. Flexible.
If you have theese things, you will come a long way on the programming road. The third is not a requirement, but is very good in our growing community... :)
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Anonymous2008-05-05 14:28
All of it
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Anonymous2008-05-05 14:59
>>4
If you are writing a ray tracer you can just copypasta algorithms from ``sams doom3 in 21 days'' tutorials without understanding a thing.
Mathematical knowledge is only useful in programming when you are using the programming as a tool to solve mathematical problems. (and even then, not too useful)
Or... if you want to write something new, but that's impossible, everything's already been written.
I wouldn't call algebra and functions advanced mathematics, at all. That's Grade 11 or 12 stuff at most.
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Anonymous2008-05-05 15:18
Your definition of write is funny. Copying is plagiarism.
If you want to write your own ray-tracer, not copy one, you need math.
Many programming tasks are just telling the computer what you want it to do. Fetch this, store that, delete this, etc.
If you want to go anywhere beyond that math becomes more and more important. For get calculus for now. That is only important if you are doing robotics or some physics simulation.
There are a lot of maths that CS uses that are not calculus and that most people coming out of high school do not even know of as math.
Discreet structures, logic, graphs, automata, etc.
These are math, and even if you fail at algebra and calculus you may still be good at these.
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Anonymous2008-05-05 17:59
>>10
Excuse me, good sir, when you said "logistic thinking", are you sure you weren't trying to say "logical thinking"? If you are sure, would you please care to elaborate on what you mean by "logistic thinking" and why it is important to programming?
lrn2dictionary
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Anonymous2008-05-05 18:16
>>15 M y a n u s f e e l s k i n d o f h a x e d n o w :(
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Anonymous2008-05-05 18:18
There is actually a "program". Aristotle wrote about it - but it has been a taboo since the church banned his description of the thinkable process of how we create in the middle ages.
>>19 u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program u need to know at least basic boolean algebra to program
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Anonymous2008-05-06 20:17
>>20
Oh, I get it. “You need to know at least basic English to write.” Clever.
some of the advanced concepts come in handy, and you need the not-so advanced ones in order to understand them, however, if you're not that worried about optimizing the proper way, you can get away with just... almost nothing.
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Anonymous2008-05-07 9:06
If you plan to write a 3D engine one day...
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THE ULTIMATE WAKE AND BAKE2008-05-07 9:24
do you need to learn how to drive a bike if you want to learn how to move around? HAH! do you even want to know how to properly navigate any kind of terrain or do you just want to get somewhere? learn to accurately phrase your question, and more often than not you will see that the answer in front of you without any effort
if you want to be able to go anywhere you please, then yes ... you will need a decent bike (and more than that by the way, you will need a spaceship). it's not that i can't imagine people going far out on foot, but i think it will them longer. even then, you can only get so close to the moon climbing trees
also, >>21,22: LURK MOAR (sage is isn't an insult, and you newfaggots shouldn't make it one (newfaggot also isn't an insult))
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Anonymous2008-05-07 9:28
>>25
Learn to respect cultural differences. Sage is an insult here, waha.
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Anonymous2008-05-07 9:36
18 + 18 = 100000
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Anonymous2008-05-07 9:43
(a/b) / (c/0) *Given that c =/= 0*
= (a/b) * (0/c)
= a/b * 0
= 0
I have successfully performed a mathematical operation that involved division by zero.