Programmers and Math
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Day to day, very little maths, but I went down the maths route as a teen anyway as there were no programming courses available to me at GCSE or A-Level so I my choices were always things like maths and physics etc because of the type of logic/thinking that's involved. Then I got to uni and took up CS, and here I am doing a CS job.
He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Still scooping up my brain after it oozed out of my inadequate skull. But can that method be used to work out how many sweets there are in a jar at my local fair so I can win? If not it's of little use to me.
I still remember having to write your own code in FORTRAN rather than be a cut and paste merchant being pampered by colour coded Intellisense - ahh proper programming - those were the days :)
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Plenty of it. I program financial products and need accuracy till the 18th digit after decimal.
SG Cause is effect concealed. Effect is cause revealed.
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
It helps but is not essential. Apart from in mathematical application domains it has greater use for language and library designers I suspect. E.g., look at the theoretical docs for C++ STL.
Kevin
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
I deal with a little for 3D and games, nothing too fancy though. Just mechanics maybe some trigonometry (I always hated trigonometry, i now i find myself using it fairly often. I guess those teachers knew what they where doing after all) maybe some other generic maths for other nondescript calculations.
My current favourite word is: Bacon!
-SK Genius
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
I blame my inability to understand his paper entirely on the failures of the English education system to teach maths in the late 70's and early 80's. Brought up on the Fletcher mathematics books, the simplistic SMP card system and later the frankly pointless SMILE mathematics system, by the time I went on to 6th Form and was handed a serious mathematics textbook (which dealt with all manner of, as yet unseen by me, symbols and terminology such as Calculus) I was completely lost and decided to do something else entirely. I could, of course, rectify this now - but who has the time?
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
It depends on what I'm working on. When I used to to work with the telecoms, that was some heavy duty mathematics all the way. When I worked with eSense, the different algorithms I had to code were completely mathematical in nature as well. On the other hand, everyday garden variety business development, at least the stuff I worked on, rarely if ever required something more complicated than basic arithmetic.
"Every time Lotus Notes starts up, somewhere a puppy, a kitten, a lamb, and a baby seal are killed. Lotus Notes is a conspiracy by the forces of Satan to drive us over the brink into madness. The CRC-32 for each file in the installation includes the numbers 666." Gary Wheeler "You're an idiot." John Simmons, THE Outlaw programmer "I realised that all of my best anecdotes started with "So there we were, pissed". Pete O'Hanlon
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Being good in math in school is helpful because it teaches you to have a rigurous and healthy way to analyze and resolve problems. That's algorithmic thinking. But using math itself in programming is very limited for the vast majority of prigrammers. Personally I used to enjoy it and to be quite good in maths during school and high-school, but lost most of my interest for it during college.
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
For me it has depended on the client I work with. Mostly, however, I just do web apps that require little math. I did work for one client that works in agri-science where math was very, very important. I think the focus on math for computer programmers is not necessarily because you will need to use everything you learned from Calculus 2, but because math is based on logical thinking, which is a corner stone of programming. By putting a lot of focus on Math through your college program, it fosters proper logical thinking which helps you become a better programmer.
Broken Bokken You can't carry out a ninja-style assasination dressed as an astronaut. It's the luminous fabric; too visible. - Tripod http://www.brokenbokken.com
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Hi Roger, I did not explore the details of your link, but it seems to be a Master's thesis, and it is not surprising that you got confused with lots of mathematical details inside. Is not there any other "article", or "tutorial", that explains the same topic in a simpler way? And even if there is some math involved, I am not sure if you are required to understand everything that is inside, so just copy & pasting could work as well.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm." - W.Churchill
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
There's mathematics as in "How do I solve a quadratic formula" and, yes, this isn't as useful as you would hope in your general day to day programming. Then there's mathematics as in "How do I turn my head inside-out and tie my brain in a n-dimensional knot trying to find the physical interpretation of a solution to an m-dimensional function". The former is a set of rules learned by rote. The latter is a method of thinking laterally, imaginatively and rigourously in a manner that can make a good programmer great.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
Roger Alsing wrote:
So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work?
I think this is highly dependant on your field, not programming in general. When I did accounting, I did a lot of math, but it was almost always addition and subtraction. Really the only time I used multiplication was in inventory valuation and payroll. I just started doing some predictive analysis before I jumped ship and moved to engineering. Now I use math constantly, like you said 3D graphics. Computational physics, terrain analysis, navigation... there are some interesting topics there, all math. But someone doing UI work might do very little math. This is not a digital distribution, not all math, not all lack of math, its a real-world value which means it is analog and dynamic. There is no one answer, and the answer is always changing based on the dynamics of individual field of study operations/advancements.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
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There's mathematics as in "How do I solve a quadratic formula" and, yes, this isn't as useful as you would hope in your general day to day programming. Then there's mathematics as in "How do I turn my head inside-out and tie my brain in a n-dimensional knot trying to find the physical interpretation of a solution to an m-dimensional function". The former is a set of rules learned by rote. The latter is a method of thinking laterally, imaginatively and rigourously in a manner that can make a good programmer great.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
n-dimensional knot
even better an n-dimensional knot tied in an infinite strip. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
All programming languages are dirived from Lambda Maths and their used to be a strong link; with the latest generation of code tools this is some what not so true as the compiler does all this for you. Funnily enough in .NET 3.5 you can use Lambda expressions.
DEVELOPER DAY SCOTLAND 10th MAY 2008 http://www.developerdayscotland.com/[^]
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Chris Maunder wrote:
n-dimensional knot
even better an n-dimensional knot tied in an infinite strip. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
You'd need to ask a topologist for the why, but apparently you can't have knots in anything other than 3-space.
You know, every time I tried to win a bar-bet about being able to count to 1000 using my fingers I always got punched out when I reached 4.... -- El Corazon
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com
I currently work with one math major and my lead had a math minor. Both say they still like math but haven't used anything more than your elementary level stuff since graduating. Years ago I worked with another math major, but he was working on RSA encryption and used part of that all the time. I once knew calculus.
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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When I was younger I was always told that you had to be really good at math to be a programmer. But as I got older I found that I rearely have to deal with math at all. Possibly some semi simple rules in business logic. The only exception for me so far have been when dealing with 3d/2d programming, then I had to read up a bit on math. So how much math do you guys have to deal with in your every day work? The reason I thought of this was that I found an article on how to auto layout class diagrams: http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/pw-and-m-theses/2007/sun07.pdf [^] And after reading that I felt completely retarded :sigh:
Blog: http://www.rogeralsing.com Projects: http://www.puzzleframework.com