[Lemur]

For me it's always been a weak point, I hated Trig in High School and most every other math class I ever tried but as with all things most of my major and now grad school are dependant on learning and excelling at math (discrete being the main requirement.) Is there any way to self teach or any resources/recommendations to getting on my feet and hopefully advancing substantially in math?

[macosxnerd101]

The best thing I can suggest is learning to apply it. You may just not enjoy the plain theory, but instead you prefer seeing it hands on. For Trig and Calculus, try applying it as Physics to game programming. For Linear Algebra and aspects of Discrete, try applying them to loweer-level Graphics projects, as you seem to be interested in Graphics.

[Lemur]

Any suggestions as far as projects go? I can do basic math with no problems whatsoever but above Algebra 2 it just gave me nightmares in High School.

[bcranger]

I found the Princeton Review AP Study Books for Calculus and other subjects very good if you want to take a look at some books.

Project-wise...IDK you can always check out ProjectEuler, it has 299 great math problems. I been trying to do a few a day, I've solved 110 or something so far. The later problems involve more critical thinkings such as those beyond algebra2...kinda logic to me but I guess you can call it math.

This post has been edited by bcranger: 02 August 2010 - 07:22 PM

[Lemur]

Now here's the fun question: If math is really only useful for abstract thinking and new approaches to problems then doesn't that sound just a tad bit like art in a way?

As far as abstract and perspective I've been told I do things in an extremely odd/unique way that works just as fast if not faster than most other students works because of just the degree to which I deviate from what would be considered orthodox.

I can easily keep to par with any program that's thrown my way (at least so far)with little more than an artists perspective and ideas that rarely see the Comp Sci department.

What I'm wondering is if Math is the absolute base of programming or if it could be considered to be art/creative nature instead to some extent.

Just my odd thoughts on the matter, but something that's been bugging me for a while.

I'll be the first to say though I'm horrid at math but in the programming department I'm ironically towards the top of the class.

[Nikitin]

Math major here.

I self-taught myself some of the math courses before studying them at the university. Most of it was just reading a textbook, and doing the exercises. I used MIT's course pages and their resources like notes, video lectures, as well as their homework assignments to "simulate" the course. When I struggled through some parts, I used YouTube and Wikipedia to provide me with additional help (along with some other websites that Google came up with).

I never used it, but heard great things about this website - khanacademy.org

I would recommend to at least give it a try.

[KYA]

This is going to sound boring and terrible, but if I need to refresh something, I grab a calculus book (or w/e) and go through the chapter(s) and do the exercises at the end of each.

[macosxnerd101]

@Lemur: A math teacher in my IT Center who has a Ph.D in the subject told me once that Math is considered one of the fine arts, and one of the few areas where you can get a degree of science or art in it. As you are very artistic, I would suggest art and graphic-incorporated projects, like fractals, vector graphics, etc. Stuff that would interest you as a Graphics guy, but would still help with math.

@KYA: Calculus. It's fun, not boring.

[Lemur]

Ah fractals, loads of fun those buggers are. I should probably look back into them but I do suppose I do a lot of rendering work in things such as terragen which involves a substantial amount of data and customizations to get good work.

[Nikitin]

Lemur, on 02 August 2010 - 06:41 PM, said:

Now here's the fun question: If math is really only useful for abstract thinking and new approaches to problems then doesn't that sound just a tad bit like art in a way?

Well, math is useful for many things, not just something abstract. I mean, all science pretty much depends on it, among other things. For the other part, yes, mathematicians do see math as being a form of art. There is even a whole concept of mathematical beauty (google it). You may have heard a solution to a math problem being called "beautiful" or "elegant", like a picture. I may be the worst artist out here, but even I sometimes see the "beauty" in math. Kinda hard to explain though.

Quote

What I'm wondering is if Math is the absolute base of programming or if it could be considered to be art/creative nature instead to some extent.

It's hard to imagine using absolutely no math in programming, so some math is definitely a base. The question is - how much of it? Well, I think it depends on what type of programming you're doing. I've done some AI and cryptography, and those things require a lot of math to understand. Many programmers need to design their own algorithms, being able to analyze them is crucial and also requires a lot of math in some cases. I'm not into game programming (yet), but know that writing a game engine requires solid knowledge of math as well.

Of course, there is also art aspect of math that plays role in programming, where you can use it to find an "elegant" solution to a programming problem. For example, many project Euler problems have such solutions. Although they mostly end up being brute-forced.

[macosxnerd101]

Quote

I may be the worst artist out here, but even I sometimes see the "beauty" in math. Kinda hard to explain though.

I know exactly what you mean. The only times I've gotten the comment "Very Creative Student" are in math classes, specifically Calculus this past year, and Geometry the year before.

[Shane Hudson]

I self taught myself Trig because I was making a basic rpg like game (though only got as far as collision detection) and my teacher refused to teach it to me. So I googled and practised and eventually it worked!

Project Euler is also a great way of learning.

If you want to dive at the deep end... you know Photoshop has things like multiply and screen? They are maths functions. You might be able to download a trial of Mathematica or Matlab (I am not sure, I was given Mathematica because I am a volunteer on Wolfram Alpha) on which you could play around with their graphics. It is fun but confusing!

[mostyfriedman]

i am constantly reading about math. Get this book, the art and craft of problem solving, it may motivate you to learn math.

[Nikitin]

mostyfriedman, this is a classic text in problem solving, a great book that is recommended to every programmer who is good at math. But in this case, I would have to say "no". This book is just way too advanced. I'd advise to either have had an experience in math contests or a good understanding of discrete math before tackling it.

[mostyfriedman]

well if you have a serious problem with math, then i recommend you start over, I did the same thing before both with math and programming. with math i started from scratch, from the simple arithmetic, and moved on to algebra and other more complex stuff gradually. i also started solving problems from contests. there's no really easy way of just being good at something, you have to know the root of your problem and tackle it, my problem with math is that i had a weak foundation, so i started relearning it all over. good luck