maths for programming C++

[uttre]

hai to all,

i did some programming in Lisp (6 months) & next i want to learn C++. i
searched all the archives of "comp.lang.c++" & ACCU too & decided "C++
Primer" 3/e as my text book. (unfortunatley i tried but Accelerated C++
is not available in India, not even "C++ Primer 4/e).

anyway, my question:

I want to start doing math only for learning the following skills:

"logic, problem-solving & pattern-recognition", skills of a
mathematician which i will apply to programming & also to
general-learning in life (1). i searched on net & found "Donald Knuth",
the ultimate authority on these skills.

"Concrete Mathemetics" is available here, but hell, ...it is *faaaar*
above my head. but i see it as a most usefull book to learn the
skill-set i mentioned earlier. so i am banging my head into it. i will
be doing it 1 hour a day, other time will be spent on doing programming
. so will you recommend some books out of the following list of
algebra books as a prerequisite to DON Knuth's Concrete Mathemetics (or
you want to say something else?)?

Higher Algebra - Hall & Knight
Higher Algebra - Bernard & Child
Algebra for beginners - Hall & Knight
Algebra - Artin
Algebra - Lang, Serge
Elmentry Algebra - Rich
Algebra - Moh
Algebra for programming - bird, Moor, De

I am a B.Sc. graduate & undestand college-level maths like: Binomial
theorm, Permutation & Combinations, sum of n terms, quadrilaterals,
isoceles & equilateral triangles, vertically opposite angles etc. etc.

*please* bear with me if it is *sick* , its my 2nd post on some
newsgroup.

thanks

<< "uttre"

(1) sometime ago i read a blog of Stevey-Drunken's on "Maths everyday".
the distinctional points he proposed in his blog are exactly similar to
the ones i have got after doing some programming for 6 months. but he
had his points by reading "John Von Neumann and the Origins of Modern
Computing". I dont know him & neither i read that book but the points
he noticed & points i noticed are similar in many respects.

 

[Jim Langston]

hai to all,

i did some programming in Lisp (6 months) & next i want to learn C++. i
searched all the archives of "comp.lang.c++" & ACCU too & decided "C++
Primer" 3/e as my text book. (unfortunatley i tried but Accelerated C++
is not available in India, not even "C++ Primer 4/e).

anyway, my question:

I want to start doing math only for learning the following skills:

"logic, problem-solving & pattern-recognition", skills of a
mathematician which i will apply to programming & also to
general-learning in life (1). i searched on net & found "Donald Knuth",
the ultimate authority on these skills.

"Concrete Mathemetics" is available here, but hell, ...it is *faaaar*
above my head. but i see it as a most usefull book to learn the
skill-set i mentioned earlier. so i am banging my head into it. i will
be doing it 1 hour a day, other time will be spent on doing programming
. so will you recommend some books out of the following list of
algebra books as a prerequisite to DON Knuth's Concrete Mathemetics (or
you want to say something else?)?

Higher Algebra - Hall & Knight
Higher Algebra - Bernard & Child
Algebra for beginners - Hall & Knight
Algebra - Artin
Algebra - Lang, Serge
Elmentry Algebra - Rich
Algebra - Moh
Algebra for programming - bird, Moor, De

I am a B.Sc. graduate & undestand college-level maths like: Binomial
theorm, Permutation & Combinations, sum of n terms, quadrilaterals,
isoceles & equilateral triangles, vertically opposite angles etc. etc.

*please* bear with me if it is *sick* , its my 2nd post on some
newsgroup.

thanks

<< "uttre"

(1) sometime ago i read a blog of Stevey-Drunken's on "Maths everyday".
the distinctional points he proposed in his blog are exactly similar to
the ones i have got after doing some programming for 6 months. but he
had his points by reading "John Von Neumann and the Origins of Modern
Computing". I dont know him & neither i read that book but the points
he noticed & points i noticed are similar in many respects.

It is hard for me to understand how someone could understand Binomial
theorm, quadrilaters, etc... and not know Algebra. Perhaps that is only
because here Algebra comes right after basic math.

Anyway... Algebra is good to know, but is a little bit different than
computer math. In Algebra this statment is totally wrong and impossible.
A = A + 1
because the = is used to show equality. In some computer languages, C and
C++ and others, it is used for assignment, adding one to the variable A.

Why is it you think you need to study Algebra for computer mathematics? I'm
not saying you shouldn't know Algebra, I use it all the time to convert
formulas from non computer math to computer math.

Do you understand the following equations as used in mathematics?

X + 1 = Y + 2
X = Y + 1
Y = X - 1

If you understand them, that is, how they are all equal, I don't know that
you need to know much more to apply your college math to computer formulas.

 

[ma740988]

hai to all,

i did some programming in Lisp (6 months) & next i want to learn C++. i
searched all the archives of "comp.lang.c++" & ACCU too & decided "C++
Primer" 3/e as my text book. (unfortunatley i tried but Accelerated C++
is not available in India, not even "C++ Primer 4/e).

anyway, my question:

I want to start doing math only for learning the following skills:

"logic, problem-solving & pattern-recognition", skills of a
mathematician which i will apply to programming & also to
general-learning in life (1). i searched on net & found "Donald Knuth",
the ultimate authority on these skills.

"Concrete Mathemetics" is available here, but hell, ...it is *faaaar*
above my head. but i see it as a most usefull book to learn the
skill-set i mentioned earlier. so i am banging my head into it. i will
be doing it 1 hour a day, other time will be spent on doing programming
. so will you recommend some books out of the following list of
algebra books as a prerequisite to DON Knuth's Concrete Mathemetics (or
you want to say something else?)?

Higher Algebra - Hall & Knight
Higher Algebra - Bernard & Child
Algebra for beginners - Hall & Knight
Algebra - Artin
Algebra - Lang, Serge
Elmentry Algebra - Rich
Algebra - Moh
Algebra for programming - bird, Moor, De

I am a B.Sc. graduate & undestand college-level maths like: Binomial
theorm, Permutation & Combinations, sum of n terms, quadrilaterals,
isoceles & equilateral triangles, vertically opposite angles etc. etc.

Your level of understanding is somewhat puzzling to me - in that - how
could _not_ have an appreaciation for algebra, after - at a minimum
binomial theorem?

There's two distinct items here.
1. Learning math
2. Applying it in a programming environment.

From the looks of your post you already know this. That said, with

regards to item 1, for algebra/trig you'll be fine with some of the
recommended texts. The higher level stuff - pattern recognition, etc.
is an entirely different beasts and will - perhaps - take some time to
'get your head around'.
As for item 2. Most texts I've seen that are geared towards the
scientific community is poorly written. 'void main' - for instance ...


..

 

[uttre]

Your level of understanding is somewhat puzzling to me - in that - how
could _not_ have an appreaciation for algebra, after - at a minimum
binomial theorem?

my english is weak so i did not get this. i mean the sentence ---- how
could _not_ have an appreaciation for algebra, after ---

There's two distinct items here.
1. Learning math
2. Applying it in a programming environment.

OK, i am focussing on 1. regarding 2, it will be applying the logic &
problem solving skills to programming(which i will learn from 1)

regards to item 1, for algebra/trig you'll be fine with some of the
recommended texts.

nobody *recommended* any texts to me.

The higher level stuff - pattern recognition, etc.
is an entirely different beasts and will - perhaps - take some time to
'get your head around'.

hmmmm...ok i will take my time.

As for item 2. Most texts I've seen that are geared towards the
scientific community is poorly written. 'void main' - for instance ...

:-(

thanks

 

[Jim Langston]

my english is weak so i did not get this. i mean the sentence ---- how
could _not_ have an appreaciation for algebra, after ---

He meant the same thing I did, it's hard to understand how you don't know
algrebra with the other higher math you know.

OK, i am focussing on 1. regarding 2, it will be applying the logic &
problem solving skills to programming(which i will learn from 1)


nobody *recommended* any texts to me.

That's because we feel you don't need any texts. Your knowledge of math
seems to be beyond Algebra already.

 

[Marcus Kwok]

It is hard for me to understand how someone could understand Binomial
theorm, quadrilaters, etc... and not know Algebra. Perhaps that is only
because here Algebra comes right after basic math.

Unless I am mistaken, the Serge Lang _Algebra_ book is graduate-level
(abstract) algebra, which deals with such concepts as groups, rings,
fields, and cohomology.

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Algebra.html
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AbstractAlgebra.html

 

[uttre]

He meant the same thing I did, it's hard to understand how you don't know
algrebra with the other higher math you know.

i did not know that somebody knowing Binomail Theorm knows algebra. so
i know algebra

That's because we feel you don't need any texts. Your knowledge of math
seems to be beyond Algebra already.

thank you

'uttre'

 

[uttre]

Unless I am mistaken, the Serge Lang _Algebra_ book is graduate-level
(abstract) algebra, which deals with such concepts as groups, rings,
fields, and cohomology.

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Algebra.html
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AbstractAlgebra.html

thanks for the links.

'uttre'

 

[red floyd]

[redacted]

Unless I am mistaken, the Serge Lang _Algebra_ book is graduate-level
(abstract) algebra, which deals with such concepts as groups, rings,
fields, and cohomology.

Ah... abstract algebra.... brings back memories.... most notably the
typo in the course syllabus (UCSC 1984). The last lecture was to be on
the unsolvability of the quintic. However, the last word got left off,
so the syllabus looked like:

THE UNSOLVABILITY OF THE
FINAL EXAM

Not a hopeful sign for most students

 

[Robbie Hatley]

hai to all,

i did some programming in Lisp (6 months) & next i want to learn C++. i
searched all the archives of "comp.lang.c++" & ACCU too & decided "C++
Primer" 3/e as my text book. (unfortunatley i tried but Accelerated C++
is not available in India, not even "C++ Primer 4/e).

anyway, my question:

I want to start doing math only for learning the following skills:

"logic, problem-solving & pattern-recognition", skills of a
mathematician which i will apply to programming & also to
general-learning in life (1). i searched on net & found "Donald Knuth",
the ultimate authority on these skills.

"Concrete Mathemetics" is available here, but hell, ...it is *faaaar*
above my head. but i see it as a most usefull book to learn the
skill-set i mentioned earlier. so i am banging my head into it. i will
be doing it 1 hour a day, other time will be spent on doing programming
. so will you recommend some books out of the following list of
algebra books as a prerequisite to DON Knuth's Concrete Mathemetics (or
you want to say something else?)?

Higher Algebra - Hall & Knight
Higher Algebra - Bernard & Child
Algebra for beginners - Hall & Knight
Algebra - Artin
Algebra - Lang, Serge
Elmentry Algebra - Rich
Algebra - Moh
Algebra for programming - bird, Moor, De

I am a B.Sc. graduate & undestand college-level maths like: Binomial
theorm, Permutation & Combinations, sum of n terms, quadrilaterals,
isoceles & equilateral triangles, vertically opposite angles etc. etc.

*please* bear with me if it is *sick* , its my 2nd post on some
newsgroup.

thanks

<< "uttre"

(1) sometime ago i read a blog of Stevey-Drunken's on "Maths everyday".
the distinctional points he proposed in his blog are exactly similar to
the ones i have got after doing some programming for 6 months. but he
had his points by reading "John Von Neumann and the Origins of Modern
Computing". I dont know him & neither i read that book but the points
he noticed & points i noticed are similar in many respects.

Taht's all very nice, but has absolutely nothing whatsoever to
do with the C++ programming language, so it's 100% off-topic here.

As you may have noticed, you got a lot of replies, but none
that really helped you a lot. That's what happens when you get
waaaaay off-topic.

Try these newsgroups instead:

sci.math (I set follow-up here)
alt.math
alt.math.moderated

I think you'll get MUCH better responses there.

The reason is, computer programming is a skill which requires
relatively little mathematics. About all you need to know is:

1. Grade-school arithmetic.
2. A little boolean algebra (and, or, not, DeMorgan's Law, etc)
3. A little bit of high-school algebra helps sometimes (optional)

That's it. Any 14-year-old knows those things already.

Now, if you're doing programming in a heavily mathematical field
(say, university mathematics research, or theoretical physics, or
climate modeling, or advanced cartography using fancy projections)
then you may need to learn more math. But for most programming,
little math is required. So most programmers here are not
advanced mathematicians, and can't advise you very well on
higher-mathematics textbooks.

So go to the groups I list above, esp. "sci.math". I think you'll
get the advice you need there.

--
Cheers,
Robbie Hatley
East Tustin, CA, USA
lone wolf intj at pac bell dot net
(put "[usenet]" in subject to bypass spam filter)
http://home.pacbell.net/earnur/