How important is math for software engineering, and does it help in problem solving?

[blabla21]

I'm well aware that you can learn programming, data science, etc... without being good at math, but one thing I always keep hearing is that; the better you are with math concepts, the better your problem-solving skills become. Seeing how many things in programming derives from concepts in math (functions, vectors, matrices, etc...), do you believe having a strong foundation in math would help someone in this type of field?

 

I'm asking this because I'm in a bit of a tough situation right now. I'm looking to enter college this year and I have only 3.5 months left to prepare for the entrance exam.

The entrance exam is 10 math questions, and let me tell you that my knowledge in math is really, really bad (something like 7th or 8th grade perhaps) :(

 

While I think that I have enough time to prepare myself for the exam, I think that the only way for me to pass it would be through rote learning. So I'm in a bit of a pickle where I can choose to either pause this year and study math properly to establish a good foundation, or I can go with the plan right now, enter college sooner and not 'waste' a year.

 

I've heard a lot that having a good foundation in math is beneficial in software engineering, so I would like to know based on the replies I get what course of action I should take.

 

As I matured, I began to find math actually very interesting, and it's a science which I would love to study properly, to help me in "abstract thinking" and improve my problem-solving skills, because if I'm looking to be a software engineer, I may as well give it my best, so I hope it would help. However, if I take the entrance exam this year, it'll be as I said, through rote learning. I won't be able to quite understand all the concepts clearly, but at least I won't need to wait another year just to enter college.

 

I really want to hear your opinions on this, how much beneficial is math for software engineers? Does having a strong foundation lead to better problem-solving? If two programmers were assigned a task and both of them have spent an equal amount of time (let's say 10k hours) practicing programmers, but one has better math knowledge than the other, would that person be able to produce a better/faster solution than the other guy?

 

A slightly off-topic question I'd like to ask is: As someone who is 25 years old, am I old to enter college? I never knew what I wanted to do in life, so after graduating high school, I never planned which college I would go to, but now that I know, I think I'll feel awkward being the oldest guy in the class :\

[WereCatf]

3 minutes ago, blabla21 said:

do you believe having a strong foundation in math would help someone in this type of field?

No. Maths is an entirely different thing than logic, and it's understanding of the latter you need in programming. Maths is important only when you're working on a project that involves complex maths, but understanding logic is important at all levels.

[PurplDrank]

12 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

No. Maths is an entirely different thing than logic, and it's understanding of the latter you need in programming. Maths is important only when you're working on a project that involves complex maths, but understanding logic is important at all levels.

My uncle is a programmer designing complex programs for automatic payments to employees. In his case math is very much involved. But i do know others where math is not required. 

[Slottr]

23 minutes ago, blabla21 said:

pickle where I can choose to either pause this year and study math properly to establish a good foundation, or I can go with the plan right now, enter college sooner and not 'waste' a year.

Study math and get your bearings down. Math becomes super fundamental with a lot of programming. Especially for something like eng.

 

If you're not as math confident, go into computer science instead and stay away from engineering. That seems to be about at least 50% of the work.

- I'm not a software engineering student, but am close with some who are. I'm in computer science, and even in this area knowing how algorithmic data operates mathematically is fairly important.

25 minutes ago, blabla21 said:

A slightly off-topic question I'd like to ask is: As someone who is 25 years old, am I old to enter college? I never knew what I wanted to do in life, so after graduating high school, I never planned which college I would go to, but now that I know, I think I'll feel awkward being the oldest guy in the class

You'll be fine. I've switched degrees twice and in each one there has always been a fair array of ages.

[KNG_HOLDY]

tl;dr

 

boolean algebra is kinda important but the importance for all other fields depend on the type of programms you want to make

if you want to be a game developer i would say you have to know the fundamentals of math very good and all the matrix / vector stuff like dot product etc

making my own game engine as part of a module was the first time i really had to use "real" math in my programms -

besides that i didnt really use that much i learned in my math modules - but math courses definitly helped me thinking a certain way in regards of thinking of possible errors before they happen / edge cases

 

BUT from my experience the same people that do bad in math also did bad in all other CS classes

maybe its because they dont learn as much as the other students do or w/e reason

 

from my personal experience i would say you are mostly fine without beeing good at math but looking at user students i would say knowing atleast some basics is helpful

 

 

[Sauron]

12 hours ago, blabla21 said:

The entrance exam is 10 math questions, and let me tell you that my knowledge in math is really, really bad (something like 7th or 8th grade perhaps)

 

While I think that I have enough time to prepare myself for the exam, I think that the only way for me to pass it would be through rote learning. So I'm in a bit of a pickle where I can choose to either pause this year and study math properly to establish a good foundation, or I can go with the plan right now, enter college sooner and not 'waste' a year.

Don't worry about entrance exams, they're just a barrier to entry that exists because the college has too much demand. Do what you need to do to pass it, you'll be taught all the math you need in your courses.

 

As for how important math is to an engineer, it greatly depends on the kind of job you'll get after graduating. In some cases it's barely relevant, for instance if you'll be designing database software you really won't need any calculus whereas anything to do with robotics and automation is going to involve more than a little geometry and calculus. Again, you'll be taught what you need in the course so don't worry about it.

12 hours ago, blabla21 said:

A slightly off-topic question I'd like to ask is: As someone who is 25 years old, am I old to enter college?

Meh, you're never too old as long as you're motivated and you can afford the time.

[straight_stewie]

18 hours ago, KNG_HOLDY said:

BUT from my experience the same people that do bad in math also did bad in all other CS classes

This is not always the case. Calculus threw me for a loop. Hard. It took me four tries to get past Calculus I. The last two times I had private tutors. But when it came to classes like Data Structures, Discrete Mathematics, intro to FPGA, and intro/intermediate microprocessors I was always one of the top students in the class. But there's the other point that has been made: Logic is significantly more important for most areas in the CS/SE world.

 

I will say that college algebra is certainly a requirement for nearly all programming: Even the simplest things rely on algebra concepts, like variables, factoring, and simplifying (as they relate to working with variables in the programming sense). I would posit that Trigonometry might also be a useful math class for programmers in the general sense because it introduces the concept of formal proofs, but you are likely to get that during your other CS or SE courses anyway. Trigonometry itself is a foundational requirement, however, if you think you might want to work in computer graphics or machine control systems.

It really depends on what you want to do with your career. Things like building business logic for x website likely won't require much math. Things like data analysis, computer graphics, physics simulations, advanced cryptography, and machine control systems will be more math intensive.

[fringie]

There is some truth in that but you don't need it. I have very poor maths skills and I have good problem solving skills. It's never stopped me getting a job etc but it did make it difficult for me to get into higher education as most of them require higher level of maths than I have, I bypassed it luckily as you only need it for year first year of uni where I live and I went to college instead which are more flexible with requirements.

[DataMaster69]

If anyone is considering Data science, it's built on math and statistics entirely!