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 January 13th, 2013, 01:12 PM #1 Newbie   Joined: Jan 2013 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Math or Computer Science? Hi, firstly sorry for my bad English I want to ask a question to you about studying Math or CS in university. I'm 16 and i've been dealing with CS (programming,algorithms,artificial intelligence etc.) since I was 5. I love programming and mathematics so much, but I'm undecided what I will studying in University. I would like to studying math but everyone is saying to me that I study CS, and the reason of that is that CS is very popular. So, I'm undecided about what I'll study.. Will I be vacated if I study mathematics? I love math so much, and CS too.. What is your suggestions about that? Sorry for my bad English again .. and thank you..
 January 14th, 2013, 05:05 AM #2 Global Moderator     Joined: Nov 2006 From: UTC -5 Posts: 16,046 Thanks: 937 Math Focus: Number theory, computational mathematics, combinatorics, FOM, symbolic logic, TCS, algorithms Re: Math or Computer Science? As far as I'm concerned CS is just a part of math. If you like it, major in it (and take some of the other cool classes in the math department). If you think you might go into math, though, I'd reverse my advice (even if you also think you might go into CS). It's much easier to transition from math to CS than the other way around.
February 2nd, 2013, 02:25 AM   #3
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Re: Math or Computer Science?

Quote:
 Originally Posted by dbayraktar28 Hi, firstly sorry for my bad English I want to ask a question to you about studying Math or CS in university. I'm 16 and i've been dealing with CS (programming,algorithms,artificial intelligence etc.) since I was 5. I love programming and mathematics so much, but I'm undecided what I will studying in University. I would like to studying math but everyone is saying to me that I study CS, and the reason of that is that CS is very popular. So, I'm undecided about what I'll study.. Will I be vacated if I study mathematics? I love math so much, and CS too.. What is your suggestions about that? Sorry for my bad English again .. and thank you..
If math is your interest and you are excellent in it then i think you have to choose it without paying attention of other suggestions.

 March 8th, 2013, 02:18 PM #4 Senior Member   Joined: Jan 2013 Posts: 209 Thanks: 3 Re: Math or Computer Science? I'm a professional CS and most interested in AI (like my open source Audivolv software which evolves at the wave amplitude level Java code that defines musical instruments you play with the mouse based on clicking good/bad buttons), while I find jobs are more interested in throwing together local components and service providers through the Internet to build endless variations of less than cutting edge things. There are scaling problems in how the world works, in regulated industries, in bad Internet protocol design that has spread and nobody fixed it for years so it became standard, and all kinds of junk that an AI programmer should not be wasted on. A math education includes many abstractions you're likely not to find practical uses of, but we don't know which we'll use until we go out in the world and create new paradigms. A CS education includes the math of how computers work down to 1s and 0s in the CPU, memory, address bus, and I'd guess newer educations would also include cell processors and other kinds of grid computing as its becoming more popular these days. But those are only some of the models of general computing. Others include automata, turing machines, discrete lambda calculus, and NAND gates. Computing theory is a kind of math that desparately needs a redesign away from large sequential calculations toward massively parallel like brains and unlimited size grids of cell processors that are cheap to mass produce and connect in any shapes. Theres no shortage of challenges if you're up to creating a paradigm shift and solving problems on a global scale, even if you don't have money and just use open source tools and a few computers to get started. CS and math have alot of overlap, but I've decided after 6 years in the industry that I'd rather be a math person, which I do on my own time and research, but practically even though I can do math at a professional level (at least in theory) I don't see much potential for jobs that just want new equations or proofs. CS is the high dimensional, and further than that recursively deep into cardinalities, version of math. As soon as you go past a few lines of code, you're already in sparse dimensional space of possible bit states of the system, and complexity explodes from there. Math is the infinite precision smoothly rotating overlap of many equations, while CS is approximate and tends to break eachother when touching in any way other than designed, unless you're really good in AI. So should you do CS or Math education? I think the main problem in CS is people don't have to care how systems work as long as they hook together blindly following instructions and looking up common fixes when it breaks, because it leads to bigger complex systems without justification, and only a few like me really know computing theory at a deep enough level to build a new Internet if all the tech was destroyed, or if it needs a deep bug fix or whatever. With a math education, you could do CS and understand it at a deep level, because CS is purely a kind of math, one that people get lazy about proving things before using them but still its math. Those who enjoy math should learn math then derive CS, or as I did it work in CS and get really good at making the computer do anything I want visually interactive and realtime so I have all kinds of programs where I experiment with math concepts as how the colors of pixels and mouse movements relate to eachother. The ability to rapid prototype, like I can put just about any simple behavior of pixels on the screen I want in a few minutes, can let a CS learn math at a speed far exceeding the use of normal math software. But overall I'd say go with the math education.
 March 21st, 2013, 04:12 AM #5 Newbie   Joined: Mar 2013 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Re: Math or Computer Science? Mathematics is good but Computer Science is perfect, nowadays Computer Science is growing sooo fast and if you try to get yourself in this and try to learn well you will grow like it so fast. your brain will turn to diamond and you will have good job in future with good pay.
 July 21st, 2013, 03:21 AM #6 Newbie   Joined: Jul 2013 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Re: Math or Computer Science? There are institutions which offer double majors in both, so if you'd go for something like that, you can always research a local institution and see whether they have such a program. Personally, I think it's hard to explain and draw a line between these subjects, and comment on whether one of them is more useful than the other. It's your own opinion, and if you like mathematics more than doing programming and solving technical puzzles, (not to mention that game development is solely based on that), then go for mathematics. If computer science sounds more appealing to what you want to do in your future, (I'm not sure about the job market for mathematicians, but I suppose an employer would pick a computer scientist over a mathematician if the job had to with computers), then go for computer science - as easy as that.
 September 12th, 2013, 10:46 AM #7 Senior Member   Joined: Apr 2013 From: Ramallah, Palestine Posts: 349 Thanks: 0 Re: Math or Computer Science? Your question answered with simple if/else logic. Code: if (CSMAJOR) { yourbankacct = $} else { //Math Major yourbankacct =$0.00 }
September 12th, 2013, 06:22 PM   #8
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Re: Math or Computer Science?

Quote:
 Originally Posted by TutorIndia Mathematics is good but Computer Science is perfect, nowadays Computer Science is growing sooo fast and if you try to get yourself in this and try to learn well you will grow like it so fast. your brain will turn to diamond and you will have good job in future with good pay.
Computer programming (esp. development) is growing quickly. Computer science, I'm not so sure. I like it a lot, though!

 September 14th, 2013, 04:03 PM #9 Newbie   Joined: Sep 2013 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Re: Math or Computer Science? Computer Science isn't that intertwined with Math. There are definite ties to discrete math ([recursive] functions, boolean algebra, etc.) and somewhat less so to linear algebra and set theory, but beyond that I'm not sure of the benefit of studying one on the other.

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