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I have been searching and there is so many, I am in computer science and did not realize how heavy math was in this field. i do not really understand why it is unless you are going to work in the financial side so can someone explain to me why math is so important to it as my teacher is horrible. and second could someone suggest where to brush up on basic/prealgebra math and start trying to get ahead of the degree math wise. I appreciate any help as my degree depends on it and I have searched and have no idea where I should start. I was going to try khan but do not know how recommended it is as it seems really unorganized.Thank you very much ahead of time.

levels ofgeek
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  • How are your problem solving skills? – Asinomás Jul 10 '15 at 22:40
  • They are pretty good, they could use some work, my biggest worry is next term I have intro to discreet math and I am pretty sure I am not ready for that so I really want to get to where I am. I just have no idea where to start. – levels ofgeek Jul 10 '15 at 22:42
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    The name was not a clue that math was going to be involved? What do people think computer science is about? – Robert Israel Jul 10 '15 at 22:46
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    A prealgebra book will hardly help with a discrete mathematics course. Neither the material nor the problem solving methods will be useful. Just as computer science is not just about programming, math is not just about computation and solving equations. – Matt Samuel Jul 10 '15 at 23:06
  • As @RobertIsrael said, I cant imagine some engineer computer without maths!!! WTF. You need to know a lot of number theory, by example, to create different algorithms faster than other and that they can be divisible in parallel calculus (various CPU) and so on... And surely you will need to now many transforms to know how to compress data, represent images, sounds, etc... – Masacroso Jul 10 '15 at 23:07
  • If you want to get a programming job that doesn't involve math, don't get a computer science degree. My previous job was one of the kinds of jobs you're talking about and not a single person there had a computer science degree. My boss had a BA in economics and he was probably the best coder there. – Matt Samuel Jul 10 '15 at 23:13
  • I understand there is math,I never said there should not be I said I did not understand why there was so much and that My issue is I am trying hard I just need a way to make my math better. I am not sure how to make myself better at math so I am ready for my math courses. – levels ofgeek Jul 10 '15 at 23:16
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    I'm sorry if my comment offended you. I did not intend a "better than thou" attitude, and I wish I could help. Maybe some computer science departments should make more efforts to ensure prospective students know what the subject is about (no, it's not just how to write code) and how they can prepare for studying it. – Robert Israel Jul 11 '15 at 00:16

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I am not a computer scientist, but I do love programming, and I know a little about how computer scientists apply math. Here are a few examples:

  • Computer animation teams combine skills from art, programming, and math to render images that look realistic and, and flow realistically from frame to frame. In particular, I know that animators use linear algebra to model how a scene looks from different angles, and how the image of an object will change when it is moving, in reflection, through a window, etc.... I also know that the hair and clothing are particularly difficult to animate, and a lot of work goes into developing the math to model that. I'm sure there also are lots of other instances of math in animation.
  • An important aspect of computer science is understanding how long a program will take to execute. Different algorithms which accomplish the same task are rated by which is the fastest (consider quicksort and bubble sort). Calculating the computation time is a nontrivial application of mathematics to computer science.
  • When an algorithm runs slowly, a careful application of mathematics can help you optimize this program. This is why it is important to study calculus, which provides a lot of effective optimization tools.
  • An area of mathematics which has a lot of application to computer science is graph theory. Whether working with large networks or complex data structures, theorems from graph theory can help computer scientists organize and make sense of their work.
  • One of the main reasons that computers are helpful is their ability to process large amounts of data very quickly. Such data usually comes in the form of arrays, which can be understood using concepts of linear algebra.
  • Speaking of linear algebra, tools from linear algebra and calculus allow computer scientists to compress information in a way that a file takes up less space on a hard drive, but is still just as useful (this is how .jpg and .mp3 files work).
  • Alan Turing, often thought of as the "father of computer science," is also a revered mathematician. Most of Turing's work was completed before the first computers, and he developed all of his research on mathematical ideas alone! In fact, computers are nothing more than machines build to evaluate logical statements. Logical statements are what math is all about.

There and countless other applications of math in computer science; these are just a few I could think of off the top of my head.

As for book suggestions, Shaum's Outlines are terrific for reference and review (and not expensive), and there are books ranging from pre-algebra to some rather advanced applied math.

Plutoro
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