Hey there, in this article, I tried to briefly explain why you should put more interest in Mathematics as a programmer. I hope you find it insightful.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT MATHS?
According to the University of Oxford, Mathematics is a fundamental intellectual tool in computing, but computing is also increasingly used as a key component in mathematical problem solving.
Mathematics makes a person more logical, creative and intelligent. To me, it is just like the brain's sharpener because it allows you us to reason in a logical manner.
Sometimes ago, I heard some students in my class(computer science department) say:
"Why do we even offer Mathematics as a course? How is it even going to be applied?"
I just looked back to see how beautiful their ignorance was. Because, do you even know that Computer itself was built on the foundation of mathematics(binary)? One of the main function of a Computer is to perform arithmetic and logic unit(mathematics), you are studying Computer Science and you don't want to study Mathematics, you should probably leave that field. Lol.
Coming down to programming, if a building is very strong, guys, what is the first thing we talk about?
the foundation right? Behind every strong programmer is a strong mathematical background. Not knowing Mathematics alone is the deal, but also, how to apply it. Just like you speak English Language but you can't write an essay🤷♀️
IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICS IN PROGRAMMING
Here, I will be writing on a few importance of mathematics in programming.
Mathematics can be considered as one of the most important tools that programmers use to develop sophisticated applications. A programmer without the basic knowledge and right application of mathematics is basically handicapped.
Algebra in Mathematics is used in computer programming to develop algorithms and software for working with mathematical functions.
Statistics is a field of mathematics that has the capability of deploying quantified models, representations(graph) and generating a brief summary or a general survey in order to draw conclusions from data set.
Mathematics also provides analytical skills required in programming.
Abstraction: This is like the most important skill you can transfer from Mathematics into programming. By this, I mean the ability to get rid of all the less important stuffs and focus on the important properties. Like, when you are been told to write a program that should get the sum of two values in 10 lines and you just represent the whole thing in just a line saying sum a,b
CONCLUSION
Who knows if the reason some other programmers are more sophisticated in problem solving skills than you is because you cannot apply your mathematical skills logically and even in drafting out algorithms and designs?
If you are just starting your career as a developer, and you are not very good or averagely good in mathematics, you might find it somehow difficult when it comes to solving even one of the easiest mathematical problems in programming like writing a program that will collect the 10% of the amount of a certain product and display the discount price of that product back to the user. So, I will advice you to level up your mathematical skills to become a better programmer in the long run.
My name is Soyebi Grace, I am a freelance backend developer and graphics designer. Follow me on twitter here . See you next time. Bye👋