What type of math should I study to prepare for computer science?

[Anele]

I am in grade 12 and very interested in computer science, however I noticed that I do not have as much mathematics "under my belt" as I would like.

I am simply wondering which type of math I should do on my own (in order to best prepare me for computer science).

Thank you!

 

[sheldonrocks97]

Honestly, you really don't need too much math to start out in computer science. In fact, at my university, Computer Science grads aren't even required to take Calculus III. Of course, this depends on your college/university, but as long as you have Algebra II or Precalculus you should be fine mathwise to study computer science.

However, you should probably study binary, hexadecimal, and decimal conversions and bitwise operations if you want to get ahead of the game.

I am personally an EE major, but many of my friends are CS majors, so I know a lot about what they're doing.

Hope that I could help!

-Austin

 

[Anele]

Thank you so much! That helps a lot! And would I be able to study this on my own with Google as my friend? Or would I require some sort of book? Thank you again!

 

[sheldonrocks97]

Certianly! You don't need a fancy book to study things like that. You can just use a few google searches to find what you need.

Here are a couple of sites to get you started:

Binary conversion and operations: http://www.is.wayne.edu/OLMT/BINARY/PAGE3.HTM

Hex conversion: http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/numDecToHex/

Bitwse operations: http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/bitwise_operators.html

Good Luck!

 

[Anele]

Wow! Thank you so so much! I truly appreciate it! I can't wait to get started!

 

[sheldonrocks97]

Wow! Thank you so so much! I truly appreciate it! I can't wait to get started!

No problem, Anele!

 

[jedishrfu]

One thing that helped me a lot was learning Boolean algebra. In particular, I learned how to start with a truth table for some circuit, convert the table to Boolean equations, reduce them using Boolean algebra rules and then constructing the circuit from the reduced equation.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_4/chpt_7/9.html

And more Boolean algebra:

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/boolean/bool_7.html

Also learning how to use an IDE like Netbeans or Eclipse will go a long way with improving your programming skills.

Another thing to look at is the Open Source Physics website. OSP is a collection of Java classes that can be used to do computer simulations of physical systems.

Www.compadre.org/osp

 

[sheldonrocks97]

One thing that helped me a lot was learning Boolean algebra. In particular, I learned how to start with a truth table for some circuit, convert the table to Boolean equations, reduce them using Boolean algebra rules and then constructing the circuit from the reduced equation.

I totally agree with this as well. Boolean algebra is very important for CS as it is for EE as well. I can't believe I forgot to mention that!

 

[Anele]

Ok, perfect! That sounds like a lot, so I will get started fairly soon. Thank you for the information and websites!

 

[Anele]

Do I need more than high school math to do any of this?

 

[jedishrfu]

I totally agree with this as well. Boolean algebra is very important for CS as it is for EE as well. I can't believe I forgot to mention that!

Thank you for not mentioning it so I could.

 

[sheldonrocks97]

Do I need more than high school math to do any of this?

As mentioned before, you shall only need up to about Algebra II or Precalc. My university also has their CS majors take a class called basic concepts of mathematics, which is taken after Calculus II, however you shouldn't worry about that yet. I have to take that class next semester so wish me luck, haha!

Thank you for not mentioning it so I could.

Anytime!

 

[jedishrfu]

Boolean algebra is very similar to standard algebra with the caveat that you are working with one and zero only.

For the computer simulations stuff it implies you know at least calculus and are comfortable with it.

 

[Anele]

Thank you very much for all your help! And good luck to both of you!

 

[user977784078]

At most universities you don't need much maths for computer science, unless it is something like Cambridge.

At my university you have to take linear algebra, differential equations and multivariable calculus (combined in 1 subject), probability, logic and discrete mathematics (combined in 1 subject) and that is all. Things like graph theory, group theory, etc. aren't required, you learn them in the CS classes as needed.

I think the maths is very manageable even if you don't know much maths at this point. You don't need to do any analysis or advanced algebra, which are the hardest maths subjects.

Some universities only require linear algebra, calculus II and discrete mathematics but I highly recommend taking probability as well.

 

[Filip Larsen]

If you haven't already you may want to take a peek at the wikipedia page for discrete mathematics and computer science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_mathematics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science

 

[Anele]

Great advice, thank you!

 

[Gary Feierbach]

Get as much math as possible. Mathematical maturity is important in CS unless you just want to be a Cobol programmer for a bank