Subj : Re: Good math skills a requirement?
To   : comp.programming
From : Jonathan Bartlett
Date : Fri Aug 05 2005 04:33 pm

> I don't see how a programmer would need anything beyond simple arithmetic 
> to write an email client in a programming langauage such as Delphi. How in 
> the heck is geometry, trig, calculus, etc. going to aid in this type of 
> project? 

Geometry is important for two reasons:

1) learning to do proofs help you to think the way programmers do
2) many problems are geometric, even if they don't appear so at first

The rest of it think like this:

Math is a tool of analysis.  The more higher maths you know, the better 
your skills of analysis will be, period.  After college I learned 
differential equations on my own, and through it my understanding of how 
to analyze systems became much, much clearer.

Linear algebra will help for any sort of optimization problem, because 
it teaches you to think in parallel.

The reason to learn math is not the math.  You learn math to learn how 
to think.

Jon
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Learn to program using Linux assembly language
http://www.cafeshops.com/bartlettpublish.8640017

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