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Very long, most CS people don't know any group theory.
by Ar-Curunir 11y ago
Very long, most CS people don't know any group theory.
- wtallis 11y agoJust a week or two ago I saw someone get downvoted for suggesting that many CS degrees don't include real analysis. I suspect that by now undergrad CS programs are all over the place, and I wouldn't dare make broad generalizations about the math content of a CS degree anymore.
- Ar-Curunir 11y agoI am pretty sure that most CS students don't have the algebra background to understand what's going on in this algorithm. I've taken a year's worth of algebra and the algorithm still relies on stuff that I don't get. Edit: and most CS programs do not emphasize traditional math anyways. No analysis, some linear algebra, very very little abstract algebra, and that's pretty much it.
- Zach_the_Lizard 11y agoMy father got a BA in CS that didn't even require calculus. He graduated in the 90s.
- j2kun 11y agoI would, because I'm on the inside. There are even many CS degrees that don't require a course in algorithms. You have to remember that most CS degrees come from public/state universities, not Stanford and MIT. And CS students at public/state universities are largely mathphobic.
- pm90 11y agoThat's a very broad generalization. There are many public/state universities with amazing CS research and programs (e.g. UC Berkeley) that are very math-heavy.
- Ar-Curunir 11y agoAs a student at UC Berkeley, students need to study at most linear algebra and multivariablr calc to major in CS/EECS.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoNo Boolean algebra, probability, or statistics?
- learc83 11y ago>There are even many CS degrees that don't require a course in algorithms. What CS degree doesn't require a course in algorithms? I assume there are some Software Engineering degrees that don't, but how can you spend 4 years studying computer science without an algorithms course? >And CS students at public/state universities are largely mathphobic. I agree that most CS students try to avoid relatively proof heavy classes like Automata. But almost all CS courses require up to Calc 2 and discrete math, so I'm sure the truly "mathphobic" students would have majored in CIS or something else. I also don't think this has anything to do with Standford MIT vs public universities. Students at those Universities would avoid elective proof heavy classes as well. I did undergrad at a relatively unknown state school, and now I'm in grad school in a top ten program. I know plenty of people from both schools who avoid rigorous proof heavy classes when they can.
- j2kun 11y agoHere is one such program, North Carolina State University, which requires a basic theory course (automata) but no algorithms course. https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/undergrad/semester.php https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/undergrad/semester.php There are many more X state universities that churn out computer science degrees than the top schools.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoCSC 316 appears to be the main algorithms course (recommended 4th semester course).
- gleenn 11y agoPretty big generalization there. There are 20+ CSU's and 10 UC's in California. You really going to paint 30 schools with such broad strokes in one state alone, plus the rest of the US?
- brianchu 11y agoMost CS programs that I am aware of don't require real analysis. I know Berkeley EECS doesn't, and it's a very rigorous program. Stanford too. I plan on taking it, but only because it shows up in a few esoteric theoretical machine learning contexts.
- alexfoo 11y agoToo true, it's one of the reasons why I did a Maths degree to complement my Comp Sci degree.