> But I think that most programmers who are serious about what they do should know calculus (the real kind), linear algebra, and statistics. What does he mean

> But I think that most programmers who are serious about what they do should know calculus (the real kind), linear algebra, and statistics. What does he mean by calculus of the real kind? I parsed that as referring to calculus of real variables, as opposed to complex analysis. One of the reasons that complex algebra is taught in colleges and universities is that real and complex algebra are related. Gerolamo Cardano ran into it around 450 odd years ago, so it isn't exactly an obscure area of maths.