You Don’t Have To Be a Math Genius To Be a Great Programmer

I’ve found there is a big difference from what colleges say you need from what you actually need in order to make money in the business world as a programmer. College tends to try to over prepare you and many times ends up teaching you things that are either out-dated or of little to no business value in the real world.

They do get a some things right, don’t get me wrong. You can learn a lot in college (usually more than you wanted to learn) and it’s a very structured environment that helps you to systematically learn in a classroom setting whereas you may not have dedication and commitment to learn on your own.

But there is a real gap between what you learn in college and what the business world is looking for. I’d like to offer my perspective here and break this down for you.

You do NOT need to be a math genius or even take advanced college math in order to be a programmer.

What Colleges Say You Need:

Lots of Math Courses:

The computer science BA and BS degrees at universities like Florida State University and others show that you need the following math prerequisites in order to get a degree in Computer Science: Discrete Mathematics I, Discrete Mathematics II, Precalculus, Trigonometry, Calculus…