Subj : Re: Good math skills a requirement? To : comp.programming From : Gerry Quinn Date : Thu Aug 04 2005 11:14 am In article , phlipcpp@yahoo.com says... > James C. wrote: > > > This question is probably asked often, but can someone be a decent > > programmer without any advanced math skills? To be more specific, can > > someone get by in programming with simple arithmetic (i.e. addition, > > substraction, multiplication, and division)? > You might not realize how much algebra, set theory, counting theory, > geometric proofs, etc. you already understand to program loop statements and > recursion. People bad at those don't typically make good programmers, > regardless of their trig or calculus skills. That would by my attitude too (Paul Hsieh said something similar). You mightn't know FFT or trigonometry if they hit you in the face, but if you can program at all you probably have the sort of mind that will pick them up as you go along, and you may already be aware of many of the concepts intuitively. At times you will need them. Try to program a game of Asteroids, and you'll need to pick up basic trig, for example. Try to do 3D Asteroids and you'll have to go further, though you still may get by without needing to delve into the work of today's mathematical birthday boy. - Gerry Quinn .