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Ask HN: Can math books help you become good at problem solving in general?
Problems can have mathematical nature or a non-mathematical nature.
By problem solving I understand:
1. Understand what the problem demands
2. Find out edge/special cases
3. Work out examples
4. Devise a solution to the problem.
I am not implying merely reading a book will make you a problem solver. Problem solving will make you good at problem solving.
Have you come across any book that helped you become good at problem solving?
- eimrine 4y agoEdge cases is maybe the best thing what I have learned on one expensive Algorithms course, definitely applicable to problem solving in general. Another book is TRIZ.
- dev_0 4y agoWhat is TRIZ books?
- eimrine 4y agoone book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZ
- debanjan16 4y agoWhich Algorithms course?
- hackermailman 4y agoSure, try this guy's channel https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgTkKBA6LRqYuuQ-LboerRblBoD_q_eUM https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgTkKBA6LRqYuuQ-LboerRb... and his Putnam seminar vids, he shows an interesting process you can do for any problem outside math as well like collecting all ideas no matter how small to increment towards a solution, writing out examples and test cases, casting the problem into a different structure, recognizing if something has a notion of order then you can always reorder it. There's books like 'Art of Problem Solving' or Polya 'How to Solve It' but they make sense only after you get some experience.
- vram22 4y agoI was going to mention Polya's book, but you did first. There is also Dromey's How to Solve it by Computer, which was inspired by Polya's book. I have both, from quite a while ago, and think both are good. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_it_by_Computer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_it_by_Computer