Questions tagged [mathematics]
Use this tag for questions about the teaching of mathematics as it applies to computer science, or mathematics concepts in the context of computer science. DO NOT use for questions about pure mathematics or deriving equations or such matters; those questions belong on Mathematics.SE (or graduate-level questions on MathOverflow). Instead,
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Problems in maths competition vs problems in advanced cs degree and programming
I have some experience in the initial stages of maths olympiads. So , a curiosity arises whether the problem solving methods and the difficulty of the methods given in any advanced computer science ...
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How to teach Godel's incompleteness Theorems?
I'm taking a class on Logic in Computer Science, and we've covered propositional logic, predicate logic and second-order logic. Students are familiar with model theory.
They are also acquainted with ...
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Can one prove a part of the program to be correct rather than test it? [closed]
When testing software, does people prove some part of the program to work as they want like mathematicians prove their methods to be correct?
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How to get into Computer Science from Mathematics background for opening job opportunities?
The title uses the phrase “get into”, though it have broad connotations yet all I meant by that was simply entering into the field of CS for formal job opportunities.
I have a decent knowledge of ...
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Doing basically a CS MSc under a mathematics MSc program?
I have recently been reminded again (through lots of pain) why I wanted to do my masters in CS instead of mathematics. Its not that I can't do an MSc in mathematics, its just that I don't enjoy ...
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why programming languages does not have factorial function?
While searching on the internet I found almost every programming language said implement your own factorial function, rather than giving built-in function for it.
Some of stackoverflow answers ...
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Is it possible to prove software to be bugless?
I have seen that programmers test their programs often to find out if there are bugs. But is there a way to prove mathematically that a software has no bugs? If it is possible, why it is used so ...
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How to learn asymptotic notations rigorously?
Is there any good tutorial about how to make asymptotic notations rigorously? I think the way from Turing machines to the analysis of pseudocode is quite a big. Or is the situation that there are some ...
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Cormen's "Algorithms" pre-requisites
What to recommend as a pre-requisite reading before Cormen's "Algorithms" to make this book easier to get through for 10-12th graders? Any courseware available for kids, books, courses, etc.?...
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How useful it is for math student to learn programming to find proofs or counterexamples?
I study mathematics and sometimes I have difficulties to find proofs or counterexamples to some problems. Is it useful to learn programming to find counterexamples or proofs? How useful it is for ...
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Software development vs universities and scientific papers
In short: Does learning how to make software, have its place inside universities? If so which parts of it?
I was studying in a university in Russia. I don't want to name its name and location. I ...
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Why do computer-science majors learn calculus?
I am curious why computer-science majors have to learn calculus to receive their bachelor’s degrees. My father worked as a software engineer for twenty years and never used it. It seems to have little ...
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How to teach sums and asymptotics to students who don’t know limits
I am to teach sums and asymptotics to first year CS undergraduates who have only high school math. I thought it would be attractive to follow chapter 14 of https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/...
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How far do you take modular expressions?
I'm sure that basically every introductory course involves teaching about the ubiquitous mod operation. In my experience, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, I've found that teaching my students that ...
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How to explain combinatorical principles like the rule of product to students who "just don't get it"?
I assist in courses that provide mathematical background to computing science students. Every year, there are some who "just don't get" (in their words) concepts like the rule of product or the ...
user24
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Should students be taught to be first and foremost: scientists or mathematicians?
It's undeniable that Computer Science is a mixture of disciplines including science (the scientific method, some physics needed to truly understand how computers work at all levels, testing ...
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Avoiding confusion about precedence
When mentioning operator precedence for AND / OR, I explained it wrongly. I re-explained it properly using the idea of binding: the operator "binds tightly" to the two expressions immediately on ...
user737
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Tips for self-study with just a textbook and google
I'm going to be working through a textbook on discrete mathematics that has a special focus on computer science. My only resources are the textbook (which, in its defense, has answers to the odd ...
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Teaching "CS integer" vs. "math integer"
The concept of an integer data type is not equivalent to the math concept of the set of integers. For example, in many programming languages the expressions 3. and $...
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How do I teach "math equality" vs. "CS assignment" vs. "CS equality logic operator"?
Consider the following three uses of equality:
In mathematics, the statement $x = x^2$
In Python, the statement x = x**2
In Python, the expression, ...
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Teaching "math function" vs. "CS function"
The word function has different meanings in math and computer science. For example, f(x) = rand(1) is a valid (pseudocoded) CS ...
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