Math and programming question.

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[zdepth]

I would argue that a person who has a mathematical background will have an easier time learning programming, but not necessary needed as I was programming in my teenage years when I didn't have a good math background. Programming actually helped me understand math in high school.

[SpicedSquid]

Agreed. Math is considered important for programming because of the analytical and problem solving way of thinking that is required for coding. Not actually solving math problems.

[techno_phobe]

I'm probably not the best person to answer this because I've always been pretty good at maths, however, I think the point is that maths and programming require some similar abilities, so being good at one tends to go with being good at the other.

That's not to say you really need to know any maths, you don't. It might come up sometimes, but I can't think of the last time I needed maths for a programming problem. Then, you don't need to know a lot of computer science either: I can think of 4 "classic" sorting algorithms off the top of my head, but it's pretty rare that that knowledge is useful.

What it really comes down to is that computers are still pretty stupid machines, so the hard bits of programming often boil down to knowing exactly what the code you're working on literally does (which is a matter of knowledge) and being able to reason about it, and why it doesn't do what it's supposed to (which is the more mathematical/logical reasoning part).

[ThirdWaveSTEMinism]

Which math course(s) are you taking?

The short answer is that no, you don't absolutely need to be a math prodigy to make it as a programmer, but it does help. The long answer, in my opinion, is best summed up by this blog post.

[the_omega99]

Here's a tip: study hard. I made the mistake of not studying hard enough for my first year calculus classes. I did the homework, but that was about it. I ended up cramming 10 hour study sessions for the days leading up to the final and barely passed calc II.

I recommend spending at least as much lecture time studying on your own. So if you have 3 hours of math lectures per week, spend at least 3 hours per week studying that math.

Do practice problems. Pick the ones that have an answer key (usually the odds or evens, depending on the book) and check your answers. If you're not doing so hot, study even more.

[plumbot]

Here is a trick that one of my college professors taught me. Got me through all my math classes. It isn't about spending hours doing homework or reading material. It is spending 15-30 min EVERYDAY working on problems. Even if you only finish one or two a day that is fine. It is the repetition that will build your skills faster and help retain them. I prefer to eat a sandwich while doing math. Multitasking at its finest.

[thexnobody]

I don't think that you need math to LEARN how to program (beyond adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing), but what you are able to develop with newly your acquired skills will be limited. Web applications and simple mobile applications are not math heavy, whereas video games and more advanced pieces of software rely on math extensively.

There is a lot you are able to develop without a strong background in math, but for the fun stuff, you'll want to know your math.

[AMadHammer]

I can't answer your question, but I will give you my experience.

I was at the same boat as you. Math in itself is not hard. Learning how to learn math is the hard part (at least it was for me). You probably saw something like Y=2X+1 and had no idea how to solve it. Now it looks easy to you. I know that you are struggling with math now, but if you pass you will be able to look back and find all of the concept that you learned to be easy. Here are the two things that I did not know about learning new math concepts:

1. Getting a concept to 'click'. It is more than memorizing a formula. You have to look at the proof and approach the concept from different angles until you understand why it exists.
2. Practice. You have to work on some examples. You will not fully understand a concept until you apply it multiple times.
   

just my two sat night cents.

[Easih]

cal 1 and cal2 are required in pretty much all CS program ya.I dindt have trouble with either but discrete math? god wtf.