Bad Math and IT

Randux

Randux

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Can a person who is bad at math study and be successful in IT? Is there a specific field within the IT industry the person should study towards?
 
You don't need to be brilliant at math to be a developer either.

Yeah, I'm waiting for the "algorithm" crowd to tell me I'm wrong but I'm not. You don't. Most devs don't code "algorithms" anyway in fact they code mobile apps, nodejs and angular.

That said, being good at math is a good indicator that your analytical/logic skills won't be an issue.
 
Randux said:
Can a person who is bad at math study and be successful in IT? Is there a specific field within the IT industry the person should study towards?
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Talking as a software developer, to be quite honest, Maths really isn't required unless you have to do real nitty gritty things like graphics transforms and algorithm design. The only way poor Maths might inhibit you is if you go the academic route that requires Maths as a prerequisite in order to pass - but even then it can be worked around.

I do think you are starting with the wrong question though. You should be asking, what aspect of Information Technology fascinates me the most, and which aspect do I see myself working in? Programming, database administration, hardware engineering, hardware support, software support, networking, technical writing, systems analyst - when you figure this out, then you can do a bit of research and ask questions as to what are the requirements to get in.
 
The only struggle I've had is that you need math to be accepted into Comp Sci at varsity.
Also I needed to do 2 years of varsity math for a comp sci degree.
When it comes to the real world I've never needed varsity level math skills.
 
I completely suck at maths and I am quite successful in my IT career (According to me) so yeah it is possible, its a requirement for Varsity though, but it doesn't make sense
 
craiglotter said:
Talking as a software developer, to be quite honest, Maths really isn't required unless you have to do real nitty gritty things like graphics transforms and algorithm design. The only way poor Maths might inhibit you is if you go the academic route that requires Maths as a prerequisite in order to pass - but even then it can be worked around.

I do think you are starting with the wrong question though. You should be asking, what aspect of Information Technology fascinates me the most, and which aspect do I see myself working in? Programming, database administration, hardware engineering, hardware support, software support, networking, technical writing, systems analyst - when you figure this out, then you can do a bit of research and ask questions as to what are the requirements to get in.
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Trouble shooting and dealing with people's general PC problems, can that be used as an indication as to what aspect of IT to study towards?
 
Thanks for the replys everyone. It seems it is possible, just have to narrow it down to to a specific aspect of IT.
 
Logic and ability to apply solutions to problems is more important in IT across all fields.
 
Good at math = BSC Computing (Math was the reason why I dropped out, I never saw myself ever needing to use math like that in my career)
Bad at math = BSC Informatics (math is replaced with business/project management and stats and accounting) - a good transition from a dev to a team leader (and much more moola).

If you can do algorithms in your sleep then advanced math doesnt matter(unless you are in one of those heavy engineering fields)
 
The vast majority of programming jobs do not require maths at all. Mathematical skills do help with algorithm development (i.e., they're not required for basic algorithms), but then the vast majority of programming jobs do not require algorithm development either.

Not have strong maths will preclude you from certain lucrative areas of programming such as quantitative development, engineering programming, scientific research, data science, etc., but as mentioned above, you will still be in the same boat as the majority.
 
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Quantitative developer/researcher. I predict stuff (quickly)!
 
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