Mathematics

diablo911

Just curious if anyone if the networking field uses math in regards to trig and cal. Im taking trig over the summer and some of it i get and some of it i don't, i actually started this class forgetting most of my algebra because its been only 3 years since i took it and haven't used it since. But i would venture to guess the same thing will happen once i get pass trig and cal. Iv used binary in networking, and in regards to  my first and second class of c++ i see allot of math being used, so i see the importance of it in that respect but since i don't plan on being a programmer, will i ever need to know this stuff in the networking field.

JDMurray

Most of the networking people (engineering and operations) I know do not need math (beyond arithmetic) for their jobs. I don't think math is required for any advanced networking certification. You are using math in your programming course because programming has been considered historically as an extension of applied mathematics.

Knowing math is very handy if you are a programmer working in a small business that cannot hire mathematicians, economists, data scientists, etc. to do the complex math that may be required by an application. Knowing math is also handy to help a programmer transform the designs created by a mathematician to actual code. This level of skill is only needed in research projects attempting to create innovative (i.e., non-COTS) solutions.

However, being fluent in mathematics is not necessary these days to be a programmer. I earned my paycheck as a programmer for over two decades and math is my worst subject. There were pieces of some projects that I could not work on, sure, but that was only a very fractional percentage of the programming work available to do. If you find it pleasurable to eat, sleep, and breathe logic (specifically propositional and predicate calculus) then you might be a programmer (or a network engineer ).

yoba222

Imagine it's 1920 and I want to learn to become a telephone switch operator. But they insist I learn to use a typewriter. But telephone switch operators don't use typewriters so this is a waste of time and I've managed to avoid typing even single a word going on three years now. All I want to be and all I'll ever be is a telephone switch operator. . . I kid, I kid.

But I think that grasping conceptually why WiFi signals do their thing can be part of the deal so I configure it right, or figuring out how to script something to query many hosts on a network instead of being helpless until you coworker does it for you is also part of it.

MrNetTek

Math is useful in all walks of life. No, you probably won't use advanced mathematics in network engineering, but...if you go down the programming path, I do recommend a concentration in discrete mathematics. Programmers who don't use math are coders or developers. Programmers, in the computer science sense, use math.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/10/22/is-computer-science-really-all-about-math/#40866819366b

https://www.coursera.org/learn/discrete-mathematics

https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/spring17/mcs.pdf

My site: http://eddiejackson.net/wp/?page_id=17373

-MrNetTek at your service-

tedjames

I always saw the math requirement as learning to think and solve problems. No one is going to come up to you on the street and ask you to solve an equation. But you will be required to solve countless problems throughout your personal and professional life. Math just teaches you to follow process when attempting to solve a problem. Of course, if you plan to be an engineer or scientist, you may need those higher math skills.

NetworkNewb

The 3rd thread this person started on why they don't like college...  

MrNetTek

NetworkNewb said:

The 3rd thread this person started on why they don't like college...  

He thinks college is hard---wait until he breaks into the IT world. Learning never ends. 

-MrNetTek at your service-