Do you need to know math to program?

In this article I will comment on a very controversial point which is: do you need to know math to program? Is it really necessary?

What’s up programmers, is everything all right? Let’s discuss math, which is a very controversial topic in programming!

I’ll tell you in advance that mathematics does have its uses in programming, but you can be a programmer without going too deep

The truth is that in the most used languages on the market and in the most viewed applications too, mathematics is not so applied by the developer.

That is, you will program the entire software with a minimum of math in the code

When is math needed?

There are areas of programming that we cannot escape from mathematics

For example when we are in the Data Science umbrella, and we want to make prediction software with AI

We need to understand the mathematical models that best fit the case of our application.

There is also cryptography, blockchain, and other software that have specific math in their business rules.

As you can see, these are well-segmented areas or even start from mathematics, as in the case when they involve probability and statistics.

For Web Development

When it comes to web development, which is the niche that has the most openings, math is hardly necessary.

I say almost because some software may need some implementations that involve calculations

But they can be more basic implementations too, that you can find even good solutions or ideas on how to solve your problem on Google

If we can use myself as an example, in 6 years of programming I only implemented mathematics very few times in the softwares I developed

But not to say it’s a unicorn, I’ve seen some vacancies that asked for knowledge in mathematics

So if your focus is web development and you weren’t very good at math in school, don’t worry about it 🙂

You don’t necessarily need to know math to program in this area, and I repeat: most vacancies fall into this category

So Can I Forget Everything I Know About Math And Programming?

As you may know there is a lot of logic used in programming

And math exercises your knowledge in logic, preparing you to solve problems faster

Or even have better solutions  if your logic is tired out

So it can be used to stimulate this problem solver side from you

And thus being able to stand out even more in the area, you know?

If you are interested in a subject in mathematics and I discouraged you by commenting that you will not necessarily need it, it might be a good idea to learn it.

You’d better able to develop in logic and also programming logic

So what do companies want?

Companies are certainly not looking for mathematicians, but people capable of solving their problems.

If you are programming some software and you can deliver it faster and with better quality than someone who knows math

Ready! You can fire the mathematician

Focus more on the technologies you like and what the market asks for

Have you ever seen a programmer vacancy asking for calculation? Maybe yes

But what about PHP, JavaScript, Java or Python? A lot more vacancies with these requirements isn’t it?

So ignore the ones that make you feel bad for saying you need a lot of math, and I say more: ask them where they apply math programming =)

There may be an answer, but the vast majority only pay lip service to it.

Anyway, I wish you good luck!