I wouldn't say avoiding proofs altogether is necessarily the best way to go - however...
A "proof" is the mathematical steps which lead up to a particular theorem. Once a mathematical theorem is conclusively proved, it is essentially unassailable truth, as far as mathematics are concerned. However - you don't usually need to understand the proof in any great detail in order to use it. For example, Pythagoras' Theorem is often used in flash for geometric calculations. You will often need to *use* this, but will never have to *prove* it, because it has already been proven. If you were planning on being a really hardcore mathematician, then you would need to understand proofs to be able to prove your own theorems, and to understand the relationship between different branches of maths, etc. However, in applications of mathematics to computer science, having formal proofs is less important. During my secondary school education, a large proportion of the syllabus involved simply memorizing geomtric proofs. This, among other things (like my discovery of Girls) pretty much killed off my interest in maths, until I needed it again for flash stuff. So - I'd say that to start off, you should leave proofs alone, until you are generally more comfortable with the subject, as understanding proofs can often be frustrating and off putting. That said, however, you often need to understand proofs to develop elegant solutions to mathematical problems, because without proof, your solution is likely to fail. If you can prove a solution, you can use it with a great degree of certainty. Hope this helps, Alias On 1/30/06, Marcelo de Moraes Serpa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What do you mean by "proofs" and that we should avoid it? > > - Marcelo. > > Scott Hyndman wrote: > > >>http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-042JMathematics-for-Computer-ScienceFall2002/CourseHome/index.htm > >> > >> > > > >This looks like a smattering of everything. A lot of programmers would > >benefit from knowing some stats and algorithm analysis, but it also looks > >like this course deals with some proofs...and believe me, they should be > >avoided if possible. ;) > > > >Scott > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Tim Scollick > >Sent: Mon 1/30/2006 9:11 AM > >To: Open Source Flash Mailing List > >Cc: > >Subject: Re: [osflash] [OFF-TOPIC] Handling Math > > > >That's a good idea. This is probably the link that he sent you: > > > >http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/index.htm > > > >and specifically: > >http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-042JMathematics-for-Computer-ScienceFall2002/CourseHome/index.htm > > > >On 1/30/06, Johannes Nel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >>MIT have a whole range of free lectures availible that Alias pointed out to > >>me a while ago as well, maybe you still have the link somewhere? > >> > >> > >>On 1/30/06, Alias <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >> > >>>Hi Marcelo > >>> > >>>Here's the OU page on overseas learning: > >>> > >>>http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/about/p7.shtml > >>> > >>>I'm not sure if they offer the same range of courses for overseas > >>>students, because some of them require a degree of communication with > >>>a tutor, however it's worth looking through anyway. > >>> > >>>HTH, > >>>Alias > >>> > >>>On 1/30/06, Marcelo de Moraes Serpa < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>>>Hi Alias, thanks a lot for the links to the books ;) > >>>> > >>>>I must say I became a lot interested on the Open University. Currently > >>>>I´m kind o idle, only working as a freelancer and studying myself when I > >>>>need, but I would really like a degree on the area of information > >>>>technology/mathematics. I started a computer science course here in my > >>>>city but had to drop out due to finantial reasons (having to support the > >>>>transport, food, learning material and pay the course as well was too > >>>>much for me). I currently live in Brazil, could you give some more > >>>>information on the courses and their worldwide avaiability? (Well, as a > >>>>self-taught institution, I think theirs abrangence is world-wide > >>>> > >>>> > >>naturally); > >> > >> > >>>>Thanks, > >>>> > >>>>Marcelo. > >>>> > >>>>Alias wrote: > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>>HI Marcelo. > >>>>> > >>>>>I was sinilarly disinterested in maths, but since I started working > >>>>>with flash I've become more and more aware of the potential practical > >>>>>applications of it. Now, I'm currently studying for a degree in > >>>>>Computing and Mathematical sciences with the Open University, which is > >>>>>a self taught learning institution. > >>>>> > >>>>>I'd say that their tuition may not be for everyone, but my experience > >>>>>is that the more I learn about maths, the more possibilities open up > >>>>>to me, both in terms of creativity, and efficiency. > >>>>> > >>>>>Anyway - I'm not sure what level you're at, but for learning the > >>>>>basics (high-school/second level) I must highly recommend the > >>>>>"Complete Idiot's Guide" books: > >>>>> > >>>>>The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592571611/sr=1-1/qid=1138586560/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7563523-4994526?%5Fencoding=UTF8 > >> > >> > >>>>>The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geometry > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592571832/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-7563523-4994526?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155 > >> > >> > >>>>>These are the only maths books that have ever made me laugh out loud. > >>>>> > >>>>>Also, Keith Peters' new book: > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590595181/sr=1-1/qid=1138586756/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7563523-4994526?%5Fencoding=UTF8 > >>> > >>> > >>>>>covers some great maths stuff. > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>HTH, > >>>>>Alias > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>On 1/23/06, Marcelo de Moraes Serpa < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>>I often find myself struggling when it comes to math, even though > >>>>>>through the time I managed to overcome many of my math-related limits. > >>>>>>My high-school did not help at all to learn even the basics stuff of > >>>>>>this onipresent science. I was forced to take the few elements I had > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>and > >> > >> > >>>>>>to learn everything myself. It may be a stupid question, but what do > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>you > >> > >> > >>>>>>do when you go into a problem that requires some math, in sum, math > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>can > >> > >> > >>>>>>solve everything and make your life easir - if you know how to use it. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>I > >> > >> > >>>>>>find it an interesting question here mainly becouse of the graphics > >>>>>>designers that, when developing in flash, had to face a "math > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>challenge". > >> > >> > >>>>>>Things like centering an element in the screen could get very > >>>>>>complicated for me... x) recently I´ve been taking notes of all the > >>>>>>patterns (formulas) I´ve found through codes, this helps me a lot. > >>>>>> > >>>>>>I was thinking about buying some books, but math is all about practice > >>>>>>and I don´t have the time. > >>>>>> > >>>>>>Share your thought if ur feeling to, you could end helping someone > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>(me, > >> > >> > >>>>>>for example!) > >>>>>> > >>>>>>Marcelo. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>_______________________________________________________ > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>>>Yahoo! doce lar. Faça do Yahoo! sua homepage. > >>>>>>http://br.yahoo.com/homepageset.html > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>>_______________________________________________ > >>>>>>osflash mailing list > >>>>>>[email protected] > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>_______________________________________________ > >>>>>osflash mailing list > >>>>>[email protected] > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > >> > >> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>_______________________________________________________ > >>>>Yahoo! doce lar. Faça do Yahoo! sua homepage. > >>>>http://br.yahoo.com/homepageset.html > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>_______________________________________________ > >>>>osflash mailing list > >>>>[email protected] > >>>>http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>_______________________________________________ > >>>osflash mailing list > >>>[email protected] > >>>http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > >>> > >>> > >>> > >> > >>-- > >>j:pn > >> > >>_______________________________________________ > >>osflash mailing list > >>[email protected] > >>http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > >_______________________________________________ > >osflash mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > > > > > > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > >_______________________________________________ > >osflash mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________________ > Yahoo! doce lar. Faça do Yahoo! sua homepage. > http://br.yahoo.com/homepageset.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > osflash mailing list > [email protected] > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > _______________________________________________ osflash mailing list [email protected] http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
