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That really sounds like the kind of people who will complain in university about being forced to study calculus. Natural consequence: Then they never grasped t
by Shorel 2mo ago
That really sounds like the kind of people who will complain in university about being forced to study calculus.
Natural consequence: Then they never grasped the concept of computational complexity.
O(n) Vs O(n²)? They have n, what's the difference? Python is fast enough. The only thing that matters is shipping features fast! Features! Our competitor will have this next week, we need to write code fast, everything else is a matter of adding more compute, which we will pay with revenue!
- soperj 2mo agocomputational complexity was never part of calculus. Calculus is the math of continuous change.
- Shorel 2mo agoI should add that text to the rant at my last paragraph!
- moregrist 2mo agoYou don’t learn Big-O in Calculus because it requires CS algorithmic concepts. But the core question of “how does this behave as N -> \infty?” is asymptotic behavior (ie: limits) which were developed for calculus and are very much part of the foundational calculus canon.
- BigTTYGothGF 2mo ago> You don’t learn Big-O in Calculus because it requires CS algorithmic concepts Big O notation was invented in 1894.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- WorldMaker 2mo agoBig O notation predates Computational Complexity. It was originally used to guesstimate asymptotic behavior (limits as they approach infinity). The related Little o notation (even more specifically limits of already large values as they approach infinity) is directly related to early attempts at defining differentiation and differentiability and still sometimes show up in Calculus next to derivatives to explain how derivatives work. The visual interpretation/intuition of Big O notation can be a useful way to build a visual intuition of what a function's derivative and integral "shapes" may look like, so some Calculus books teach Big O notation, too.
- dr_dshiv 2mo agoAs a side note; There is plenty of useful math that many people need (or would benefit from) in the real world. Much math curricula is arguably poorly aligned to needs, as it emerged from various historical flukes of design-by-committee. Popular math curricula is not perfect by any means. I recommend looking at high school or college textbooks and considering whether it is well prioritized.
- Shorel 2mo agoIn principle I agree with you. The missing part of mathematics education, IMO, would be to focus more into developing the intuition of what something means, instead of the current focus on getting some (numeric) results.
- monocasa 2mo agoThat was one of the biggest changes that happened with common core. Common core itself didn't really mandate this, but it took a reset of the curriculum to insert the new ideas like an emphasis on intuition rather than rote arithmetic.
- annzabelle 2mo agoThe problem with common core is that it replaced building arithmetic fluency with less rigorous ways of building intuition, leading to a generation of kids who never gained the basic math skills that are foundational to actually understanding the intuition. You can't just skip arithmetic drills in favor of intuition and still come out with students who are prepared for further study in math. There's a reason Kumon etc are so popular - parents are replacing the lack of mathematics drills in schools with after school options, leaving behind all of the kids whose parents can't afford it.
- monocasa 2mo agoAfter school stuff like Kumon was popular before the switch to common core. And there still are arithmetic drills, it's just not the only focus in early math education.