Should you major in Computer Science if you suck at math ?

[Zero]

Hell naw


It's some lyin motherfukkers in here :notithes:

 

[LV Koopa]

Depends on the school and the kind of Math. My school made us take up to Calc 3, Algorithms (it IS Math lol at the poster who said it isn't), and Discrete Math 1 and 2.

If you're terrible at Algebra and dont want to put the time in I'd say don't even bother. If you're decent at iit you can still get by: Lots of CS algorithms and problem is rooted in Logic which is a branch of Math you touch in Discrete. Discrete Math also deals with set theory, probability, combinations and the like.

Some people are terrible at Calc but breeze through Discrete and vice versa. Go look up the kinds of work you have to do in those courses and decide. IMO if you can get through Calc 2 you can get through almost any Math course.

 

[root_eruditorium_org]

If you want a degree, hell no. I had to take a senior level applied probability class and linear algebra class that you won't make it through if you're not at least good at math.

And, anyone saying you don't need math in CS is full of shyt. CS is nothing but applied math. You may not take all the engineering physics and sophomore level calc classes, but CS is basically all math.

Basically. CS is by definition applied math. They always say that if all you are interested in is learning how to program then a CS degree is not really necessary. What you are going to be learning is big oh, finite state automata, ML, stats ... etc. You are supposed to pick up the coding stuff on your own, you are not going to be taught a language per se. & for most jobs out there (especially CRUD) none of that stuff will be relevant (in large majority of use cases).

 

[JLova]

CS math ain't shyt dog lol linear algebra is the highest you'll go

Yep, took that... Discrete math... Physics...

You're going to spend hours upon hours in labs coding. Make sure you love that shyt.

 

[JLova]

I suck at math no matter what. I took algebra 1 in 8th grade and barely passed. Geometry in 9th and Algebra 2 in 10th. I had to repeat it in summer school. I was transferred out of Probability and Statistics because I just couldn't grasp it and I failed Discrete Math with an F. I think too logically. I always need to know the why and how. STEM aint for everybody

"Carry the one to the other side"
"why "

Discrete math was a mind fukk.

 

[TRFG]

I hated discrete math largely because of my professor who gave us pop quizzes every class...even the classes after the exams ...thank god it was a 200 level class in the CS curriculum and as long as I didn't fail it would count. If it was a 300 or 400 level class or if I was a math major it would be a different situation

What y'all doing in class after a exam

 

[TRFG]

Physics, Physics, 2, Discrete Mathematics, Discrete Mathematics 2, and statistics.

I fukking hated math

you take less math courses to become a doctor

 

[root_eruditorium_org]

"Carry the one to the other side"
"why "

I used to be like you ... inquisitive to a fault.

Here is the deal breh ....

There is no why ... math is like an intellectual sport, you create arbitrary rules and then see what patterns emerge from your creations. Just like how baseball or basketball has arbitrary rules. Why is a 3 pointer a 3 pointer? Why not 4 or 5 points for a long shot? It is all arbitrary.

You could just as easily not carry to the other side. You can create whatever arbitrary rules you want (that's how new math subfields emerge see topology, set theory etc) but you won't have the benefit of more than 2000 years of speculation from some of the most gifted minds in history and more than likely your ideas would not be immediately useful (vast majority of pure math is not). A lot of the notions introduced in math got introduced to present a new idea, present an older idea in a more digestible format or to solve a long standing problem. Romans for example did not have a concept for zero, that emerged from the investigations of medieval mathematicians. When these ppl introduced the concept of zero they had to make decisions about its properties, just like how whoever invented baseball or basketball had to decide the rules. However, when ppl investigated zero and its relation to other numbers in the context of those "arbitrary rules" they discovered strange things. There's a reason why you can't divide 1 by 0. Doing so would mean the violation of certain arbitrary rules, just like how your shots don't count for shyt when you shoot them outside the court in basketball.

Same deal with complex numbers and their "funny" properties. Same deal with the trigonometry functions (sin, cos, tan). Arbitrary creations that only exist in the minds of humans. But wielded in the right way they can be immensely powerful.

You really have to read up on the history of mathematics it will give you answers to your "whys".

Here's a blog post I found on Hacker News that I read from time to time (There are no rules in math - Comfortably Numbered). It is very well written and puts a lot of what passes for math in elementary and high school in a broader context. I can't believe it was written by a high school kid.

 

[Gold]

I'm starting to question some of ya'll in this thread....

 

[Kufismack]

Programming is not really math it's logical reasoning. But when you actually go into the analysis of algorithms and run times then it will be a nightmare because that truly is nothing but math. Computer Information Systems you can get by with no math but Computer Science I don't see how you would avoid math.

 

[root_eruditorium_org]

Programming is not really math it's logic reasoning. But when you actually go into the analysis of algorithms and run times then it will be a nightmare because that truly is nothing but math. Computer Information Systems you can get by with no math but Computer Science I don't see how you would avoid math.

If you want to just learn programming without breaking the bank hit the books, follow online tutorials or go to a community college. CS is fundamentally an abstract and theoretical discipline and a proper CS degree from a well renowned institution preps you for academic research not the countless drone jobs that most ppl will get after graduation.

 

[Spatial Paradox]

Well I never disagreed with that, i'm just saying that if your goal is a CS degree, you gotta deal with the testing bullshyt. Some people simply aren't cut out for that.
However if you want to become a Dev, fukk CS its not that crucial.



Vanderbilt didn't do jack shyt to make him a good programmer. He was a good programmer before he stepped onto that campus.
Not to shyt on Vandy, but I took an Assembly Code class at UTD one summer that was conceptually lightyears ahead of anything I learned at Vandy.

Granted I was a CE major but still.

Going back to what @Elle Driver said, and this is something I've said multiple times on this board, I feel that if you want to get into programming... CS and CE is not the way to do it.
It would be like wanting to learn Spanish and someone telling you the only way was to Major in Spanish in college
Or wanting to learn how to play an instrument and someone saying the only way to learn was to go to a music college like Berkeley

I dont want to get on my anti-college soapbox, but undergrad is utter bullshyt. If i had to do it again I would have gone to a community college, xfered to state school, and avoided over 100k in debt. Fukk private colleges

A few years ago, I probably would've agreed with you as far as the necessity of a CS degree for finding a software dev job. But in the past year or so, it's gotten more difficult to get the kind of entry level developer jobs a self-taught programmer would be looking into.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that you can learn to program on your own without getting a CS degree. But in terms of landing a job, more and more places won't consider you without that specific piece of paper. I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary, but if you have the option of getting a CS degree, it'll make getting that first job a lot easier.

Then again, location's probably plays a role as well. NYC is apparently a pretty bad market for entry-level software development jobs.

 

[Kufismack]

A few years ago, I probably would've agreed with you as far as the necessity of a CS degree for finding a software dev job. But in the past year or so, it's gotten more difficult to get the kind of entry level developer jobs a self-taught programmer would be looking into.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that you can learn to program on your own without getting a CS degree. But in terms of landing a job, more and more places won't consider you without that specific piece of paper. I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary, but if you have the option of getting a CS degree, it'll make getting that first job a lot easier.

Then again, location's probably plays a role as well. NYC is apparently a pretty bad market for entry-level software development jobs.

Yep. I'm essentially a DBA. But then again I know of an entry-level developer who have gotten lucky so maybe I just need to do better.

 

[root_eruditorium_org]

If you major in COmputer Science outside of the Engineering school, I think they'll let you get that degree without many math courses. I feel like Linear Algebra is mainly useful for people getting into graphics anyway. I may be wrong about that though, as I've never taken linear algebra.

You should probably understand set theory though. Thats basically what SQL queries are.

In CS Linear Algebra is very useful for graphics (you are right!) and Machine Learning. In ML every single input whether it be images or music is represented mathematically as a vector. So nobody should say that none of the math shyt you learn is not useful (search up eigenfaces). If you get a typical CRUD job then most of what you learned won't be applicable but not everybody is aiming low like that, I know I'm not. In exactly a year I plan on going back to grad school to do a Masters with an ML focus.

 

[root_eruditorium_org]

I'm also thinking about Comp Sci. Tired of shytty jobs with no skills. I'm doing precalc on Khan Academy right now and I'm the guy who the high school system pushed through with barely passing math grades. Math honestly scares the shyt out of me. You need to study your ass off, starting right now. I've realized that running away from math is going to keep me from those high paying "go fukk yourself" jobs I've always dreamed of. The question is how bad do you want it.

EDIT: I also want to pass the classes (forget the degree) find that blonde white bytch and shove my math grades down her throat.

This dude gets it ...