How deep into math will I have to delve for a CS degree?
I'm ending military service and am thinking about a CS degree. I'm just worried that my sparse background in math will hinder my plans. Am I right to be worried? #computer-science #information-technology
4 answers
Narshu’s Answer
I think it depends on what type of programming you want to do. As far as being a programmer in the business world goes.
You can become a great programmer without knowing advanced mathematics.
When you do end up having to deal with math, the formulas are usually defined in the business requirements so it only becomes a matter of implementing them in code.
On the flip side, If you want to become a programmer for, say create 3D graphics engines, mathematics will play a huge role.
Joanne’s Answer
I'd be a little concerned .. but it's learnable.
The foundation for the first year usually includes calculus and differential equations.
A good teacher can make it doable.
Chris’s Answer
As others have stated, it depends. Formal logic has been of more use to me than "math" so far, but algebra, calculus, and statistics (especially as you get into things like machine learning) are important too.
Personally, I always struggled with math in school and avoided it because of that. It wasn't until I started programming that math-y things began to click for me. I needed something to apply the concepts to for them to stick. Prior to that, I worried a lot about not being strong in math, but it's come together fine.
Having good teachers in your program will help, but if you have trouble, I'd suggest supplementing class with something like Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/ I was really surprised how much I picked up going through Khan Academy's curriculum as an adult versus how much I struggled and missed in earlier math classes.
Eric’s Answer
I agree with the others. You will likely have to learn some, but it shouldn't hinder you too badly.
The two things you probably need to know most are algebra, particularly understanding y=f(x) type graphs, which is useful in understanding how long a function will take for an input of a given size, and statistics, because computers often deal with large enough amounts of data that you can't deal in absolutes, so instead aim for things like "Less than 0.1% error rate" and what that really means.