[Brokenprogrammer]

Hello,

I am planning on attending University for a bachelor degree in computer science. I have always before had troubles with math so i want to come prepared to the class with some knowledge so i do not drown in work and know nothing. I must admit that i am absolutely terrified of failing since i know that the level of math on University is completely different to what i experienced before and i know that I'm not the best in the subject. I am going to put my all into this degree though and that is why I'm asking for help with preparation.

I have found this thread about Math Resources
Which i am certainly going to read through.

I contacted the University and asked them to give me some information about what the course content of their mathematics class and they responded with this which is the content of their "Mathematics" class:

Quote

Elements of Mathematical Logic
Set Theory
Matrix Calculus
Differential Calculus (Real-valued Function with One Variable)
Application of Differrential Calculus (real-valued function with one variable)
Differential Calculus (real-valued fuction with two real variables)
Application of Differential Calculus
Integral Calculus: Indefinite Integral, Definition and Properties
Methods of Integral Calculus
Definite Integral: Definition and Properties, Methods of Calculation
Double and Triple Integral
Application of Integral Calculus
First-order Differential Equations
Second-order Differential Equations

Other than the above there is also a class on: Discrete Mathematics & Probability and Statistics

Does anyone have some recommended resources on the mentioned subjects that they could share i would be forever grateful. Also if someone of you could point me to where i could find some exercises to solve as well that would be gold. Im prepared to spend several hours per day because i really want to attend & finish University.

[modi123_1]

Hit up amazon on calc topics.. there should be books on problems and actual learn'n.

[jon.kiparsky]

Rosenbloom's Introduction to Mathematical Logic will get you started on logic and set theory. Dover has a reasonably-priced edition. You could also pick up a good textbook on discrete math, which should cover this material as well, but you might want to wait until you take discrete and use whichever text they recommend. (you will want to take this course, it'll have a lot of useful stuff)

[Brokenprogrammer]

Hey thanks for the book recommendations, i went to the local library and picked up a book called Introduction to Mathematical Logic

What i also found was an complete class on MIT Open Courseware, now i do not know if this is good stuff but i watched the first video lecture and i feel its pretty ok to follow along with. Good thing is that there is assignments following the lectures as well as reading material.

What do you think, could this be a good start?

This post has been edited by Brokenprogrammer: 03 February 2016 - 06:37 PM

[macosxnerd101]

I would steer clear of a book on mathematical logic for the time being. The logic content you will get in a CS curriculum is a sliver of what is covered in a logic class. Logic is very abstract once you move beyond the sliver in CS.

It sounds like freshman calculus is going to be your first hurdle. I'd focus on that. Generally a CS curriculum covers three semesters of calculus, a semester of linear algebra, a semester of discrete math, and possibly a semester of ODEs. Calculus comes first in that lineup.

[jon.kiparsky]

Well, I don't know about that. I'd say have a go. If you find that it's appealing, you're ahead of the game, and if not at least you've had a look and you have some idea of what it is you'll be missing by not going back there. In any case, you'll learn enough about the basics of set theory to set you up nicely for when you take discrete math. So it seems like a winning proposition to me.

(interestingly enough, I've found from looking at a number of textbooks in both topics that typically you find the best introduction to sets in logic textbooks, and you find the best introduction to logic in set theory textbooks. I have determined that this is because math people are goofy in the head, but keep it to yourself, and for pete's sake don't tell mac)

[tarmizi_adam2005]

I totally agree with macosxnerd101. Usually for bachelor's program you start with something like

1. Calculus 1
2. Calculus 2/ Linear Algebra
4. Probability and Statistics
3. Complex analysis and partial differential equations/numerical methods
4. Discrete maths

That is what I did during my undergrad years. Note that I was in a Computer engineering program. But I think CS majors will also do something like that. I personally think there is a reason why universities follow this structure.

[macosxnerd101]

If logic gets you interested in math, who am I to knock the approach?

The goal of logic is to treat theories and theorems as mathematical objects and develop results about the nature of mathematics. It's really neat and interesting. But it can also be hard to appreciate if you've never taken a couple strong proofs based courses.

In order to deal with math at any reasonable level, you do need to understand the basics of logic- propositional calculus, basic quantifiers, negating statements, etc. Model theory is likely more high-powered than you'd want to deal with at the moment. Similarly with set theory- you need to know what a set is, the basic operations, etc.; but building mathematics from elementary principles of set theory is not a good starting point. A discrete math or proofs book will cover the basics of what you need to know.

[Skydiver]

In my 37 years of software development, the only times I've had to actively use any calculus was for doing some physics simulations for a game development class. At that time, I didn't know this book existed: Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics, Third Edition.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is it just happenstance that problem spaces I've been exposed to in my programming career have not actually needed that much calculus, but "in the real world of software development" calculus is actually more heavily used?

(My school used the Calculus classes as the "grinder" classes to weed out its CS students.)

[macosxnerd101]

Unless you're doing data science or are in academia, you likely won't use much math in your job.

[jon.kiparsky]

I think you mean to say you won't be doing much arithmetic. If you're a programmer, math is about 50% of your job. The other 90% is requirements gathering.

[Skydiver]

[Skydiver]

Thinking about this meme some more, shouldn't there be more emphasis on probability and statistics rather than calculus?

[macosxnerd101]

You really need calculus to put more emphasis on probability and statistics.

[Skydiver]

Because of the area under the curve?

As far as I know, statisticians look up those values. They don't compute from scratch every time.