Math And The Computer Science Major

An anonymous reader writes "What sort of math are CS majors expected to take? Why are these classes useful? Does programming really have that much to do with math? Lineman.Net has published an article that answers these questions and more. If you are considering a CS degree, be sure to give it a look and make sure you are taking steps to prepare for your college career."

Comments

Certain types of programming...

[tcopeland]

...demand more math than others. Artificial intelligence techniques, for example.

And what the article said about game programming is right on... trying writing even a simple Brickout clone without knowing basic trigonometry and you'll run into problems.

Re:Certain types of programming...

[Laxitive]

Bullshit. He is as cool as he thinks he is.

Knowing good math.. makes you a better programmer. I would go as far as to say that computer science _is_ math. Knowing how to hook up a DB to a web front-end is not computer-science. It's a trade skill, like plumbing.

The difference between some web-scripting guy, and a guy who knows CS, is like difference between an automechanic and an automotive engineer. The engineer might not be able to fix your engine, but he understands the workings of it much better than your average mechanic.

From my perspective, being some random code-monkey is not too different from working at McDonalds. Pay might be better, but the work is still shit. Having a solid CS grounding lets you work in places and on problems that are actually _interesting_ and challenging. It allows you to actually contribute something new to the body of knowledge associated with computation.. or apply it well to some novel field.

I can pick up and learn a new language or API given a few months. It would take years of focused study for a random PHP programmer to acquire the knowledge I have.

Not to say that I'm special or anything.. but I've spent 5 years working my ass off to get myself to a proficient level in this area of study.. and most people who want to reach that same level will also have to spend several years doing it. It's just a question of wether you decide to do it early in your life (university), later in your life, or not at all.

But it's definitely worth it.

-Laxitive

Nail on the Head

[millahtime]

I am an engineer working with programmers and one of the biggest issues I have is getting them to implement some of the complex math in their code. Many struggle with it and that is a huge problem.