Why is math required for a computer science degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

Math itself is not needed in IT field, but the critical thinking and logic skills that you learn in higher level math are needed. It's not about the math, people. It's about critical thinking skills, which I'm thinking many IT people lack and wonder if they took higher level math.

-signed an IT person in the private industry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

Math itself is not needed in IT field, but the critical thinking and logic skills that you learn in higher level math are needed. It's not about the math, people. It's about critical thinking skills, which I'm thinking many IT people lack and wonder if they took higher level math.

-signed an IT person in the private industry

Critical thinking skills can be developed in a lot of fields not just math. In my experience, many philosophy majors are well-suited to IT--likely due to required courses in symbolic logic and an affinity for that kind of reasoning. Likewise people who major in a foreign language--the translation skills, the fluency with the technical aspects of grammar and construction of language etc. Classics majors in particular who are drawn to translating written languages really just for the sake of doing it. These folks often end up in law or IT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

Math itself is not needed in IT field, but the critical thinking and logic skills that you learn in higher level math are needed. It's not about the math, people. It's about critical thinking skills, which I'm thinking many IT people lack and wonder if they took higher level math.

-signed an IT person in the private industry

Well, you sort of lack critical thinking skills if you think high level math is the only way to learn this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

Math itself is not needed in IT field, but the critical thinking and logic skills that you learn in higher level math are needed. It's not about the math, people. It's about critical thinking skills, which I'm thinking many IT people lack and wonder if they took higher level math.

-signed an IT person in the private industry

Well, you sort of lack critical thinking skills if you think high level math is the only way to learn this.

the "IT" guy has no idea what he is talking about.

My company CEO studied music in college and ended up learning program C/C++ by himself. He didn't even learn calculus in either HS or college and now he is running an IT company of 900 people. Most of the IT jobs in the DMV area do NOT use math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

congrats, you and your whole family are code monkeys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what people are talking about. I am working as a software developer and I never use math in my daily work.

It really depends on what you’re doing. Machine learning, graph analytics, signal processing, simulations etc., all require a lot of math. Standard full stack web development doesn’t really require much, other than boolean logic and understanding algorithmic complexity. I will say though, that it’s been my experience that those who are good with math are also good with the analytical problem solving skills necessary to be an excellent developer.

Your point is valid though; you can work in some (perhaps many) domains in CS without doing a lot of math.

- Myself: work for a gov. contractor in java/python programming and it does not require any math
- my wife: work for a gov. contractor in cyber security and she does not use math
-my sister: work for the census as computer scientist and she does not use math
-my brother: work for a gov contractor with the DoD as system administrator and no math
-my cousin(s): Fed and gov. contractors in IT field and no math,

Yes, you will use lot of math if you work in CS field that are specialized in R&D but for 99.999% of the CS and IT jobs in the DMV, no math is needed.

congrats, you and your whole family are code monkeys

Funny you didn't read past the 1st line. That's totally and engineer for you... I read the 1st line I can figure it out myself from here.

[Anonymous]

You need a strong math background to get a PhD in CS.