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Math And The Computer Science Major

Posted by timothy on from the single-digits-are-best dept.

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."

1 of 1,203 comments (clear)

  1. Too much Calculus by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I did all the calculus classes that they made me do in University. Personally, I think the time should have been spent in several other branches of mathematics.

    All CS majors should have to take classes that focus specifically on fairly advanced algebra. I enjoy learning math, but it turns out that I'm not a very good math student. However, my math skills went way up when I started taking algebra courses. Because algebra is the basis of basically all mathematics, it ends up being a serious foundation to programming. As near as I can tell, programming languages are generally no more than fancy algebra.

    Secondly, I think that all CS students should have to pick some sort of algorithmic minor. Graph theory, logic theory, automata theory, whatever. By specializing in a branch of algorithmics, I can guarantee that you'll end up a better computing scientist and a better programmer as well.

    I guess what I'm saying is that I think calculus is too applied. :P