Math topics that keep being useful for programming: relations, orders, graphs.
Example: You have plugins with conditions such as “plugin A must run before plugin B“.
– These conditions define a partial order: In general, not every plugin can be “compared” with every other plugin.
– If we want to sort an Array with plugins, we need a total order.
– One algorithm that works with a partial order is topological sorting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topological_sorting
I’ve always found discrete mathematics (*) much easier to understand than, e.g., calculus or statistics – because it is so similar to programming. Relations, orders, graphs are all part of discrete mathematics.
If you think you don’t like math, you may actually enjoy discrete math.
@rauschma I think, we can show how to infer all other subjects, like calculus, probability theory, statistics, trigonometry, complex numbers, geometry, classical and quantum physics from discrete mathematics, algebra, set theory and informatics. Then it would be much easier to learn because we can understand the foundation (informatics).
Should we start to write a book?
@functionalscript You would have to write it (my knowledge is limited here). I’d be happy to review!
@rauschma I have multiple ideas for small articles about the subject. The problem is to find time.