Founder & CEO @ Wolk Software | EP @ JSConfIE | Former TypeScript Microsoft MVP, writer, speaker technology-lover and OSS enthusiast. Author of InversifyJS.
I'm quite bad at math but I would love to be better at it. I believe it is not a must-have skill but it is a nice-to-have skill.
Do you need to be an expert at math to be an impactful developer?
Depends, you don't need it to be an impactful developer in a field like a frontend development but if you want to work in a field like AI and be impactful then you should be pretty good in some fields of mathematics such as statistics. I would say that math is going to actually be more important in the future as big data and AI become more popular.
Will knowing advanced math concepts make you a better developer?
You don't need maths all the time but if you know maths you will be more flexible. You will be able to understand for example graphic engines, maybe that is not your thing but it is normal to encounter situations at work in which you have to work on something that is not your thing. If you know math there will be a bigger number of things that you can do. You will be more flexible and for a company being flexible is a good quality.
Okay, so I will buckle down and actually try to learn essential programming math concepts. What would you recommend and where should I go to learn such things?
When it comes to most frontend interviews you need to really know about the data structures in JS. Algorithms aren't too complicated. Read these books and you'll be set. The first two are great if you already know the super complicated stuff in javascript, but the last book really helps you retain all that knowledge. Check them out!
Also the first two books are available online for free!
I knew I was missing something. I ran into a wall while on freeCodeCamp, and was very discouraged when I simply did not know where to start when it came to the Basic Algorithm Scripting challenges. I saw the solution and thought, "Goddammit I couldn't even think of that in a million lifetimes."
I need to invest some time into learning them. Thanks for the book recommendations!
Founder & CEO @ Wolk Software | EP @ JSConfIE | Former TypeScript Microsoft MVP, writer, speaker technology-lover and OSS enthusiast. Author of InversifyJS.
But I would not focus on the math first, I would focus on programming first because I enjoy it more and will keep me more engaged. Then I would only try to learn maths when I actually need them for a reason (e.g. I don't understand something). In that case, learning math is not so bad because you actually get why you need it. It is very hard to learn maths when it seems useless.
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I'm quite bad at math but I would love to be better at it. I believe it is not a must-have skill but it is a nice-to-have skill.
Depends, you don't need it to be an impactful developer in a field like a frontend development but if you want to work in a field like AI and be impactful then you should be pretty good in some fields of mathematics such as statistics. I would say that math is going to actually be more important in the future as big data and AI become more popular.
You don't need maths all the time but if you know maths you will be more flexible. You will be able to understand for example graphic engines, maybe that is not your thing but it is normal to encounter situations at work in which you have to work on something that is not your thing. If you know math there will be a bigger number of things that you can do. You will be more flexible and for a company being flexible is a good quality.
Thanks for answering my questions!
Okay, so I will buckle down and actually try to learn essential programming math concepts. What would you recommend and where should I go to learn such things?
When it comes to most frontend interviews you need to really know about the data structures in JS. Algorithms aren't too complicated. Read these books and you'll be set. The first two are great if you already know the super complicated stuff in javascript, but the last book really helps you retain all that knowledge. Check them out!
Also the first two books are available online for free!
amazon.com/You-Dont-Know-Js-Book/d...
amazon.com/Eloquent-JavaScript-2nd...
amazon.com/Smarter-JavaScript-tech...
I knew I was missing something. I ran into a wall while on freeCodeCamp, and was very discouraged when I simply did not know where to start when it came to the Basic Algorithm Scripting challenges. I saw the solution and thought, "Goddammit I couldn't even think of that in a million lifetimes."
I need to invest some time into learning them. Thanks for the book recommendations!
For sure, keep up the learning.
No problem, I would try to search for books like:
But I would not focus on the math first, I would focus on programming first because I enjoy it more and will keep me more engaged. Then I would only try to learn maths when I actually need them for a reason (e.g. I don't understand something). In that case, learning math is not so bad because you actually get why you need it. It is very hard to learn maths when it seems useless.