Mathematics

gerarda

Hi all,
Some time ago I started teaching myself Java and was wondering if its worthwhile brushing up on the maths and to what level? I remember seeing a fantastic book called Engineering Mathematics by Stroud:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0831133279/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1403942463&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0TJK9279SJ0J17A1GRED

Im very tempted to buy this, any opinions or other book suggestions?

Cheers

amen

That's a first year text book for a lot of first year engineering/physics courses.

Good introduction.

Not sure why you would need it for starting off programming though.

Tails142

I wouldnt bother as you wont really need it.

As an engineering student I can recommend it as a good book. But a lot of the topics will be much more advanced than you will likely need.

Unless you are learning java to create engineering system models such as finite element analysis etc it will be unnecessary.

Like I said though if you're interested in getting a maths book just to have as a reference you could do a lot worse.

MoogPoo

Learning more maths can't do any harm. I don't think much mathematics is necessary really for programming although the more the better. I think typically the maths associated with programming tend to be discrete math and graph theory and things like that so it would probably be better to have a good book on discrete mathematics. If your interested in 3d graphics or anything like that you could get a book on linear algebra or something. Then if your interesting in cryptography you could get books on that that cover the required mathematics.

Discrete math is more general and so you would use it more regardless of the specific area your interested in. But just about every branch of mathematics has applications in programming so I would say just do some programming and if you get into a specific area, learn what math is necessary for that. I think audio and things like that need Fourier Transforms and if you wanted to do some engineering programs theres going to be more maths for that. Its probably easier to learn the maths if you have specific applications you need the maths for. That said if it gives you a better understanding of things and you enjoy studying it, learn as much as you can.

Civilian_Target

Personally, I'd suggest you try this first...
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-098-street-fighting-mathematics-january-iap-2008/

jmcc

gerarda wrote: »

Hi all,
Some time ago I started teaching myself Java and was wondering if its worthwhile brushing up on the maths and to what level? I remember seeing a fantastic book called Engineering Mathematics by Stroud:

It is kind of like the maths bible for engineering students. I still have my copy on a bookshelf here. I've also got a few Schaum's Outline books on Set Theory, Data Structures and Probability. They can be fairly handy. There's another book, 'Mathematics for Computing And Information Technology' that was useful.

A book on algorithms would be a good addition to your library. There's one around here called, strangely enough, 'Algorithms' by Robert Sedgewick but the code is in Pascal. If you have a basic knowledge of mathematics, it might be better to get a book on algorithms rather than one on undergraduate maths.

Regards...jmcc

dazberry

jmcc wrote: »

There's one around here called, strangely enough, 'Algorithms' by Robert Sedgewick but the code is in Pascal. If you have a basic knowledge of mathematics, it might be better to get a book on algorithms rather than one on undergraduate maths.

You're showing your age , I have a Pascal one too which is circa 1988, newer editions AFAIK are in Java.

D.

jmcc

dazberry wrote: »

You're showing your age , I have a Pascal one too which is circa 1988, newer editions AFAIK are in Java.

Yep. It is the 1988 one. I have the Byte Book of Pascal around here somewhere. I even have some books on Visual Basic but I have to say in my defence I was probably stoned on flu medication when I had a mad idea to learn Visual Basic. Not sure if the shock of Visual Basic or the flu medication cured the flu I had.

Regards...jmcc