Back to school ...

Marc Clifton

Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend

Hmmm. That sounds like more than kissing cousins! :-D Marc

People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith

leckey 0

I changed to Computer Science after several majors (nursing, biology/pre-med, biochem/pre-med, journalism....)and i think all accredited schools (in the US) for Computer Science make you take way too much math. We only had to take Calc I and Calc II though. Calc III was optional, and we didn't have a Calc IV. If you really have to take all of them, my condolences. However discrete math, and set and logic theory rocked!

Nish Nishant

Marc Clifton wrote:

That sounds like more than kissing cousins!

Does kissing cousin mean a cousin far enough removed from you genetically that it's okay to kiss her (but you still can't sleep with her or marry her)? Or is that phrase a Marc-ism?

Regards, Nish

Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)

Marc Clifton

Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

Does kissing cousin mean a cousin far enough removed from you genetically that it's okay to kiss her

Actually, more than kiss, I believe. :)

Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

Or is that phrase a Marc-ism?

No. From Dictionary.com[^] Two or more things that are closely akin or very similar. For example, They may be made by different manufacturers, but these two cars are kissing cousins. This metaphoric term alludes to a distant relative who is well known enough to be greeted with a kiss. Ah, well, I guess just a kiss away. Marc

Thyme In The Country

People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith

Douglas Troy

If you get into a Science related field, doing software development (e.g., working for NASA, JPL, Etc...) and/or Video Game development, Search Engine company (e.g., Yahoo!, Google) then you'll find you'll use Algebra, Trigonometry, Calc, etc... heavily. As others have already said, it all depends on the project you're working on ...

Chris Maunder

It's not the "how do I solve really hard equations" bit of mathematics that's so important, it's the "how do I solve really difficult problems using in a logical, precise and rigourous method" that's important. Mathematics doesn't teach you facts, it teaches you how to find facts.

cheers, Chris Maunder

CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

Nish Nishant

Chris Maunder wrote:

It's not the "how do I solve really hard equations" bit of mathematics that's so important, it's the "how do I solve really difficult problems using in a logical, precise and rigourous method" that's important. Mathematics doesn't teach you facts, it teaches you how to find facts.

Chris, your love affair with Mathematics is too well known for anyone to take your Math opinions as unbiased comments :-)

Regards, Nish

Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)

Rohde

As others have said, it really depends on what field of Com. Sci you end up with. In my case (I'm at the moment doing my thesis on content-based image searching) I've needed to make use of both algebra and calc a lot.

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Bassam Abdul Baki

Blasphemer. Math rules supreme. :)

"This perpetual motion machine she made is a joke. It just keeps going faster and faster. Lisa, get in here! In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" - Homer Simpson Web - Blog - RSS - Math - LinkedIn - BM

Pete OHanlon

Hear hear. As anybody who's done things like Applied and Advanced maths will testify. Solving the equation is easy;), as long as you can determine what the constituent parts are - anybody remember "gravity acting at a point on a slope"?

Arthur Dent - "That would explain it. All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's something big and sinister going on in the world." Slartibartfast - "No. That's perfectly normal paranoia. Everybody in the universe gets that." Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.

Shog9 0

Xaverian wrote:

Wouldn't basic Algebra suffice?

Maybe. As Chris said, it's more about teaching you new ways of thinking than anything. I remember hardly anything specific about most of the maths i studied ten years or so ago, but the discipline required to analyze a problem, find a solution, prove that solution... that stuff sticks with you. And trust me, it shows in your work. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from learning by rule and by rote, in which case it'll do you very little good and waste a lot of time. You get out what you put in... ;)

Paul Conrad

Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:

Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Russell Morris

Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:

Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

I heard that, when he dies, he's giving his eyes to Stevie Wonder.

Paul Conrad

Chris Maunder wrote:

Mathematics doesn't teach you facts, it teaches you how to find facts

Well put :-D

Dustin Metzgar

Solving calculus equations is not too much different than solving programming problems. It's an excellent exercise of the mind. Calc IV at our school was a lot of vector math, which is really useful for 3D programming. I also had differential equations and discrete math. Discrete math is having more to do with logic and I think applies well to programming. Diff eq was just plain fun. Cryptography, probability, and graphics will all use your math skills. It's definitely useful.

Logifusion[^]
"This isn't a business. I've always thought of it as a source of cheap labor. Like a family."

Dan Neely

For CS I had to take through calc III, and either stats or linear equations. Calc IV was the unofficial name for ordinary differential equations. It was numbered in a way that would correspond to calc IV, but since only calc II was required they couldn't call it that. I needed calc IV for a planned double major, and since taking it precluded the lower level linear equations class (other option was 'prep for grad school' level) I took stats. One of the two biggest mistakes I made in scheduling, and one of the three classes I worried about failing. In all three cases the prof used an agressive curve to mask his failure to teach and I passed.

-- Rules of thumb should not be taken for the whole hand.

Marc Clifton

Chris Maunder wrote:

Mathematics doesn't teach you facts, it teaches you how to find facts.

But sadly, those that teach math teach so that students can pass tests, which means facts, not thinking. At least here in the US, where test scores drive funding. Marc

Thyme In The Country

People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith

Andy Brummer

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Mathematics is about learning how to solve problems and show that your solution is correct, however most of calculus is rote formula memorization unfortunately. It really depends on how your department is set up. I found that physics at that level is more about problem solving then the math is, but you need the math for physics. However, I do web app development and there really isn't that much mathematical style problem solving needed. Good UI design is probably the hardest part followed by a good business layer api design. UI design is hard in a completely different way, and the business stuff really isn't that hard, it just gets complicated some times.

Using the GridView is like trying to explain to someone else how to move a third person's hands in order to tie your shoelaces for you. -Chris Maunder

Matt Gerrans

Marc Clifton wrote:

But sadly,

That's what I thought too, but this recent article[^] is making me question that attitude...

Matt Gerrans

Matt Gerrans

I think this can be extended to your entire education. What's more important than what you learn is that you learn to think rationally, use the scientific method and learn how to do research. Most of what you learn in Computer Science (or any other field) doesn't directly apply to the work you end up doing. Many of the best software developers don't even have Computer Science degrees and I have interview plenty of people who did have Computer Science degrees who were quite clueless about software development. I don't know whether that is an indictment against Computer Science education or education in general. :) Actually, I think higher education is a good thing, it's more a problem that too many people are education-proof. :doh:

Matt Gerrans