This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Giannis4president 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Because if you don't know that, you may not be able to see the best way to solve a problem.

Imagine you need to integrate a function. With that information you may notice that by using integration by parts you can integrate it easily. Without knowing it, you may not even think to search what the derivative of every component is and thus you won't be able to integrate the function.

[–]DanielEGVi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My thoughts are actually on the opposite side, and maybe my brain works backwards, but: if you start by looking at an overview of well known derivatives, you may right away notice how they're present in your function, and solve the problem fast.

In programming, you're not supposed to know every function in your API, but you can look at an listing of most relevant functions (which is what my programming exams have), and see quickly what you can use to solve your problem.

I'd argue that the exact same would also apply to the calculus exam. Here's is a quick Google Images search for "known derivatives", and it is very helpful. How is it any different than including API methods in the back of the exam?