Question

I am an attorney and haven't taken math since high school. Will this class be comprehensible to me or does it presuppose a strong and recent math background?

Answer 1

I studied Classics in college and haven't taken a math class in 8 years now and I am working through it. Some of the math I have to look up but otherwise it isn't too bad. I recommend watching the first 4 lectures and doing the reading for them before you try to tackle ps1. I just finished the third and fourth lectures and I think they would have been useful prior to trying the first problem set (I did it, but it took quite a while for me to figure out.)

The only way you'll really know if you can do it is to try!

Answer 2

I do agree with seanlerner. if there is some math there that is easy to loop up and understand.
In the end its all about programming.

Answer 3

And if you have trouble understanding any of the math concepts used in the class, ask questions here. That's what this site is for.

Having said that, programming, even moreso than other math-related subjects, is extremely detail-oriented. Even though the math isn't any more advanced than high-school math, programming requires a math-y mindset. If things get too complicated or confusing, take a step back, solve a simpler subproblem, prove to yourself your code is doing what you think it's doing, etc. And post questions.

Answer 4

i'm journalist so believe me for this course math isn't problem at all. i had to renew only basic derivatives for newton's method and that's it. if you however have some difficulties with math, check quick tuts at khan academy. don't worry about math now.

Answer 5

Aside from echoing the sentiments in this thread about simply looking something up you might get stuck on, my (limited) time programming has taught me that there are many different ways to solve a single problem. Some problems may be solved easier, faster, and more efficiently if you can do complex math, but that doesn't mean it's necessary. Most problems have an uncountable amount of solutions, and clever problem solving skills should allow you to tackle any project, no matter how much math you've learned.

Brushing up on some college level math certainly wouldn't hurt, though.

Answer 6

Awesome, thanks for all the replies. I'm now pretty confident that between the math in my brain and this extremely supportive website I'll be able to manage through the more complex portions.

Answer 7

If you ever want to try and work on some problem sets with another beginner, let me know. It might be helpful to try and hash out ideas/different approaches.