Really want to do I.T but....

Hi how are you?I need some advice Sorry if it of topic.

The thing is that I am doing a major in Hospitality and Tourism management at college here in Jamaica. I recently started to wonder why I was so interested in Information Technology and programming when i was doing a tourism major. People started to ask me why i am not doing I.T.

I am not really good at math so thats why i decided to choose a different career path but i am still drawn back to programming and I.T. I was wondering how much math, physics, etc. would i need to know to even consider I.T. I was told by colleagues that i need to be good in math to do it.

Ive always wanted to do programming but been afraid because of how bad i am at math, and also what skills would i need since i have no prior formal education in I.T. What would u recommend i do ?How much math and physics? I really want to do I.T.

I appreciate your response. Thanks in advance

You don't need a major in programming to develop a successful programming career. It certainly helps, but it's not mandatory. If you are happy in your current major, any programming knowledge you acquire will only diversify your resume and open new doors in the area of Tourism.

To do general programming, your math skills need only be at the level of elementary algebra. The stuff you learned on your 5th grade maybe. Everything else will be determined by what projects you are involved. Naturally, developing a Weather Simulator will push your math skills to the limit. 3D games are also another type of math intensive programming, I reckon (never tried it). But most programs will not require this level of math skills.

Unfortunately, a major will indeed demand a lot from you in terms of maths even if you don't apply these skills when you graduate.

3d graphics require you to understand vector and matrix calculation, so yes, there's math.

Majoring in CS will require a lot of math. Vectors, matrices, the formal foundation of algebra, non-trivial calculus, that stuff.

If you are looking for formal education in CSE be prepared for a lot of math. I have had mathematics for 5 semesters and we have covered all sorts of topics from complex numbers, vectors, matrices to calculus and probability and many others.

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Originally Posted by CornedBee

3d graphics require you to understand vector and matrix calculation, so yes, there's math.

Majoring in CS will require a lot of math. Vectors, matrices, the formal foundation of algebra, non-trivial calculus, that stuff.

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Actually the math's vectors and matrixes are a lot different that the 3d graphics ones. My brother has to learn them in the university in maths. The vectors and matrixes are way overcomplicated there, I don't see how those things could be of any use. Like a math's vector consists of speed and direction, but in 3d vectors are usually a simple XYZ, which either determine a position, speed, direction, whatever. You can determine EVERYTHING simply with XYZ and that's what I like about 3d programming.

Over here in Portugal, we call each discipline a 'chair'.
Any major in CS has about 3 math related chairs. One of them is named 'Analysis'. We don't call this one a chair. The students adopted slang is 'bench'. You have to flunk everything else to pass this one ;)

Naturally an exaggeration. But serves to described how hard it can be for someone not math inclined... which is a serious problme in this country btw.

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Originally Posted by maxorator

Actually the math's vectors and matrixes are a lot different that the 3d graphics ones. My brother has to learn them in the university in maths. The vectors and matrixes are way overcomplicated there, I don't see how those things could be of any use. Like a math's vector consists of speed and direction, but in 3d vectors are usually a simple XYZ, which either determine a position, speed, direction, whatever. You can determine EVERYTHING simply with XYZ and that's what I like about 3d programming.

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Well, it's the same mathematical principles, but the matrices and vectors used for 3D math are OFTEN quite simple scenarios of vector/matrix usage - it can get complicated, but for most intents and purposes it's sufficient to understand basic vector/matrix math.

And of course for a lot of programming, all you need is basic "middle-school" level math skills - and a mindset that allows you to break down a large problem into several smaller ones.

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Mats

I'm doing IT and we don't do any maths. TBH I wish we did as it would be more useful to me than other stuff, like writing business reports telling some fictional manager not to leave his company servers in a rotting shed.

Yes. IT is a different animal. However I seem to recall you still needing some math skills, over here.

Yeah, its true you do. Like being able to understand how to create a sum in excel. The most complex maths we covered on my course so far was learning how to subtract binary integers. The networking guys get all the maths fun, but then none of them seem to like it for some reason. I think they must be mad.

I'm nearing the end of CS and the hardest of my maths were my electives (Graph theory [dropped], Numerical Analysis [struggling] ) But I personally like 3D math as I'm learning from a book on the subject, I like more specific and applicable maths that also explain some of the theory behind it (Quaternions, I love you).

But I forgot most of Calculus. But taking it made later maths less intensive (try taking Numerical analysis without knowing what an integral or derivative is)

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The vectors and matrixes are way overcomplicated there, I don't see how those things could be of any use. Like a math's vector consists of speed and direction, but in 3d vectors are usually a simple XYZ, which either determine a position, speed, direction, whatever.

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Actually, 3d graphics vectors are typically 4-dimensional, with the first three components being XYZ, and the fourth being W, identifying the vector as specifying a position or a distance. (Distances aren't translated by translation matrices.)

The vectors we learned in maths are simply made up of coordinate components, like the graphics programming ones. The vectors you talk about I only know from physics.

Unless you want to do everything in Computers (which is mostly impossible) you can always avoid math related stuff (unless you kinda love the same stuff).
I have been doing it. I hate math. I can still do so many things not involving maths.

I really have to thank you guys, you really know your stuff.Since you say its not necessarily math intensive, im really goin to consider it. Regardless of what i decide im still gonna do some programming in my spare time. Its giving me alot to think about. Thanks again. Any other opinions is always welcome. ><

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Originally Posted by maxorator

Actually the math's vectors and matrixes are a lot different that the 3d graphics ones. My brother has to learn them in the university in maths. The vectors and matrixes are way overcomplicated there, I don't see how those things could be of any use. Like a math's vector consists of speed and direction, but in 3d vectors are usually a simple XYZ, which either determine a position, speed, direction, whatever. You can determine EVERYTHING simply with XYZ and that's what I like about 3d programming.

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A vector has a direction and magnitude. The x, y, and z represent the direction, the length represents the magnitude. Indeed, the maths and graphics vectors are the same thing.

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Originally Posted by medievalelks

A vector has a direction and magnitude. The x, y, and z represent the direction, the length represents the magnitude. Indeed, the maths and graphics vectors are the same thing.

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I'm pretty sure he meant different by complexity, as the rest of the quote would imply, not by definition. Regardless, I would disagree that they differ so much by complexity, anyway. I'm sure if you were to look into the code of the most advanced physics engines in games... you'd find that the vector mathmatics there was as complicated as any practical math problem. The place where calculus gets fuzzy that practical gaming applications wouldn't really go is where they consider an undefined number of dimensions. I'm not a game programmer, anyway, so I couldn't really comment farther than that.

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Originally Posted by nightwolfe00

Hi how are you?I need some advice Sorry if it of topic.

The thing is that I am doing a major in Hospitality and Tourism management at college here in Jamaica. I recently started to wonder why I was so interested in Information Technology and programming when i was doing a tourism major. People started to ask me why i am not doing I.T.

I am not really good at math so thats why i decided to choose a different career path but i am still drawn back to programming and I.T. I was wondering how much math, physics, etc. would i need to know to even consider I.T. I was told by colleagues that i need to be good in math to do it.

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It depends completely on the application domain you choose. My advice? Learn SAP and bill clients $200 per hour. A lot of the programming is getting off shored to cheap labor nowadays.