Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [math]

Programming questions that are significantly affected or best defined by the underlying mathematics of the problem.

283 questions
92
votes
26 answers

What does mathematics have to do with programming?

I just started a diploma in software development. Right now we're starting out with basic Java and such (so right from the bottom you might say) - which is fine, I have no programming experience apart from knowing how to do "Hello World" in Java. I…
Rory
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6 answers

Why is negative zero important?

I'm confused about why we care about different representations for positive and negative zero. I vaguely recall reading claims that having a negative zero representation is extremely important in programming that involves complex numbers. I've never…
jpmc26
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78
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67 answers

Do you have to be good at math to be a good programmer?

It seems that conventional wisdom suggests that good programmers are also good at math. Or that the two are somehow intrinsically linked. Many programming books I have read provide many examples that are solutions to math problems, or are somehow…
Charles Roper
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75
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10 answers

Is it good practice to replace division with multiplication when possible?

Whenever I need division, for example, condition checking, I would like to refactor the expression of division into multiplication, for example: Original version: if(newValue / oldValue >= SOME_CONSTANT) New version: if(newValue >= oldValue *…
ocomfd
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62
votes
1 answer

Treating a 1D data structure as 2D grid

I am working with a native class that represents a 2D image as a 1D array. If you want to change one pixel, for example, you need to now how to derive the index from the x,y coordinates. So, let's say we have a 1D array array1d like this: array1d =…
GladstoneKeep
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61
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5 answers

Will a computer attempt to divide by zero?

We all know 0/0 is Undefined and returns an error if I were to put it into a calculator, and if I were to create a program (in C at least) the OS would terminate it when I try to divide by zero. But what I've been wondering is if the computer even…
Ankush
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58
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5 answers

get weighted random item

I have, for example, this table +-----------------+ | fruit | weight | +-----------------+ | apple | 4 | | orange | 2 | | lemon | 1 | +-----------------+ I need to return a random fruit. But apple should be picked 4 times as…
fl00r
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53
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14 answers

Why does DirectX use a left-handed coordinate system?

I considered posting on Stack Overflow, but the question strikes me as being far too subjective since I can't think of a reasonable technical explanation for Microsoft's choice in this matter. But this question has bugged me for so long and the…
greyfade
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51
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11 answers

Is there a canonical book on mathematics for programmers?

I'm a self-taught programmer. I am honestly not good in math. What advice you can give to improve my Mathematical skills so that I will not be so insecure around my fellow programmers? What are the steps or guidelines that you can recommend to…
adietan63
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40
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12 answers

How to check if 4 points form a square?

Assume I have 4 points (they are 2-dimension), which are different from each other, and I want to know whether they form a square. How to do it? (let the process be as simple as possible.)
MarshalSHI
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37
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1 answer

Why was the caret used for XOR instead of exponentiation?

Not that it's really a problem for anyone that has faced this syntactic issue before, but I see a wild amount of confusion stemming from the use of the caret (^) as the XOR operation in lieu of the widely accepted mathematical exponentiation…
Qix - MONICA WAS MISTREATED
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36
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4 answers

Prerequisite math skill for Introduction to Algorithms (CLRS) book

I already have knowledge about basic algorithms. Now I plan to study more advance algorithms and I decide to go with Introduction to Algorithms. I'm not sure, do I need to refresh my math's skill before read this book or not? (I forget almost math…
Anonymous
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36
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16 answers

Why use other number bases when programming

My coworkers and I have been bending our minds to figuring out why anyone would go out of their way to program numbers in a base other than base 10. I suggested that perhaps you could optimize longer equations by putting the variables in the correct…
JMD
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35
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11 answers

Why do we still use floats?

I understand why floats served a purpose in the past. And I think I can see why they're useful in some simulation examples today. But I think those example are more exceptional than common. So I don't understand why floats are more prevalent in…
anon
32
votes
10 answers

Why is Math.Sqrt() a static function?

In a discussion about static and instance methods, I always think, that Sqrt() should be a instance method of number types instead of a static method. Why is that? It obviously works on a value. // looks wrong to me var y = Math.Sqrt(x); // looks…
Residuum
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