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A career in Mathematics

 
Greenhorn
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Hi,

I have spoken to a lot of people, searched the internet, and finding no other way I am posting this.I am frustrated and confused. I am working in the IT industry with around 2 yrs experience in Java/J2ee. My qualification is BE(Computer Science). My age is 33. I want to pursue a career in the Mathematics Research field. I have very little knowledge in Maths.I am from India. As I learnt there are 2 options -

1) Classic Mathematics - Which would take 5 years if I start now or
2) Computer Science related Mathematics and Algorithms which would take 1.5 yr time(Concrete Mathematics, Discrete and Numerical Methods, Basic Algorithms)

Also, I have to earn my living while doing this.

Please advice.

Thanks.



 
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Welcome to the Ranch

Yes, there are all sorts of opportunities for research in Maths. I do not know whether you would be successful after a 1½ years course; I think you may have to go and read for a BSc and later an MSc, by which time you will actually do a bit of research. You would need at least a 2i to be confident about going on to research.
Have you considered part‑time study?
 
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You can use distance learning to learn and get your required qualification. I hope they are offering computer based distance learning in your country. This can make life easier for you, earning and learning can go together, especially for small period of time. 1-2 years.

What education and experience you have got, is of computer. So mathematics related with computer should be your choice. It would allow you to use the knowledge, you already have and build on the basis that you already have.

Good luck
 
sandy banerjee
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Thanks Campbell and Thanks Rehan for your reply.

As I see, there are two things

1) Going for a Mathematics research field , which would take 5 years to start.
and would be difficult with my IQ. Also with a distance learning course I doubt if I would be able to go that far but obviously I would be fulfilling my hobby and later become a teacher.

2) Going for a computer science related research field which might take little less time(but don't you think even for that I will need to understand the basics of Maths like a BSc course) like understanding the AOCP.


Also, as I see the new technologies(Frameworks) developed today deal more with programming rather than maths (Spring, Hibernate, Javascript Frameworks,Rest), where is the use of Maths today in software field ?

I have limited knowledge, please bear with me if I have written something wrong.

Also @Campbell I could not understand what is 2i.

I have searched some distance learning courses in Maths in India, like IGNOU. Please advice me some good universities which are good for Maths.

Many Thanks...


 
Campbell Ritchie
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A 2i is a class of degree.
 
Rancher
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Regarding use of Maths in software
For 95% of the programming jobs out there, you don't need to know maths. At the very rudimentary level, you need to know how to program, and you need to understand the tools and frameworks available to you. So, the question is why do they teach maths in software engineering courses? Learning math makes you a better programmer One of the most important skill that a programmer can learn is problem solving. Being able to take a problem, and break it into parts, and then solving them individually is one of the core skills that allows you to move forward as a programmer. Coming up with multiple solutions, trying both out of them out on paper, and then comparing the pros and cons is another skill that will take you further It so happens that you need to do a lot of this problem solving thing when you do math. This makes learning math an excellent tool to learn problem solving. The reason why computer science courses have a math component to it is because they want you to learn how to problem solve. You will probably never use the math you learnt in college

So, what about the 5% of the jobs that are out there. There are a lot of Data Science jobs that require good mathematical knowledge. A lot of the Data Science is driven off statistical analysis techniques, and you need to have a good understanding of Statistical analysis to understand the requirements. You don;t need to have a degree in statistical analysis to be a data science programmer, although a formal degree is always a plus. There are lot of free MOOC courses out there. I've heard that COursera has some good courses https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1. If you are a programmer who loves math, then learning data science can be interesting and profitable for you. Data Science is a hot field, and there is lot of demand for data science programmers, right now

Regarding concersn about low IQ
Contrary to popular opinion, you don;t have to have a high IQ to be a good programmer. A moderate IQ with an aptitude for programming and the willingness to keep learning for life is more than enough. High IQ is a bonus and make things easy for you to learn. However, it;s not a requirement

You do need a high IQ to do research, especially if you are thinking about computer science or mathematics. You need to be able to keep multiple things in your head and examine them closely. That's exactly what IQ tests measure. And contrary to popular belief, IQ is not fixed. You can change your IQ. It requires work. When I was in school, I used to measure about 70 percentile on intelligence tests. I took the GMAT, and I scored 95th percentile. Life, and having to think about stuff constantly gave me a 25 percentage bump. It only took about 15 years :p. Chances are that if you are in a 5 year course that is very research intensive, you might be able to train your brain to think better if you work very hard at it.

If you are truly concerned about not having a stellar IQ, going for a programming job is an easier option. Going into any kind of research is a much riskier option, and would require a lot of hard work, and support from your family. You might have to literally work 3 times harder than other students.
 
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The relationship between math and programming is very much like the relationship between math and music. Music is actually very mathematical. So too, is programming. The ability to think in abstract terms, something you learn when you start solving word problems where you are given some information and you need to find an unknown or set of unknowns, is critical in understanding many of the basic concepts of programming and program design. I am an engineer by training but a programmer by profession. The years of math that I had while studying engineering definitely helped form the way my brain works in organizing information and attacking a problem. The same kind of problem solving systems/strategies you use in mathematics are often very similar to the problem solving strategies you use when programming.

As for IQ, I think there's definitely an advantage to having a higher IQ but then again software development these days is becoming very collaborative in nature and you will often need to work well with other people to solve a problem. If you're a brainiac but have poor social skills, your high IQ may not serve you well enough to overcome issues that your personality or lack thereof can bring. The other aspect of IQ is aptitude and the ability to simplify. Many very smart people are poor programmers because they don't have a knack for empathizing with other people who will inevitably have to read and maintain their code. I have run into a few PhD and Masters candidates who, despite their high "book IQ" could not write a lick of practical, maintainable code. They always had to write complicated and convoluted code that only they could understand and almost invariably, even they couldn't find bugs in it when those would inevitably manifest themselves in their programs.

I think the winner of the 1980 Turing Award, C.A.R. Hoare, put it best when he wrote in his acceptance lecture:

I gave desperate warnings against the obscurity, the complexity, and overambition of the new design, but my warnings went unheeded. I conclude that there are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.

The first method is far more difficult. It demands the same skill, devotion, insight, and even inspiration as the discovery of the simple physical laws which underlie the complex phenomena of nature. It also requires a willingness to accept objectives which are limited by physical, logical, and technological constraints, and to accept a compromise when conflicting objectives cannot be met. No committee will ever do this until it is too late.

So it was with the ALGOL committee. ...


Indeed, I think it is very hard to argue against the fact that people who are on a committee to create a new version of a computer language like ALGOL have to be very smart. Yet, they were not immune to the problems described by Tony Hoare.
 
sandy banerjee
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Thanks Jayesh and Junilu for your patience in helping me.

@Jayesh At the outset "Problem Solving" was the reason that I wanted to understand Maths...... Please let me know what kind problem solving you are referring to (I know about Datastructure and Algorithm books but not good problem solving books, please refer some good problem solving books that you have in mind).
Also, I am looking at the Data Science field.

@Junilu I will reply you after few days.

Hi Ranchers,
Any advice that you have is heartily welcome.

Thank you so much,
 
Jayesh A Lalwani
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I'm sorry but you can't learn problem solving from a book. A book on problem solving will only tell you how other people solve problems, but it won't make you solve problems. The only way to get better at solving problems is by solving problems. Solving math problems is a good substitute for real-life problem solving. Pick up any math puzzles book if you want that. The most effective way to get better at problem solving is to look for problems to solve, and try solving them.
 
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