Discrete Math or Data structure

[Asif_NSU]

Hi guyz,
I am about to start my third semester in my university. I have options to take Data Structures(CSE 225) or Discrete mathmatics(CSE 173). I am not sure which one take to before the other -- I will be doin both though. What do u guyz think. Will taking Discrete Math earlier help me in Data Structure or vice versa? just willing to know what would u do if u were in my place.
--Thanx

[nanosani]

There are two methods usually taught in the universities in data structures .... some lay emphasis on implementation more ... and some on the underlying concepts. If you do it on the conceptual level ... then I think discrete maths will help you a little ... But I did my data structures first and then I did discrete maths.

[kc0arf]

Hello,

I could just not get Descrete Math. The operations were beyond my grasp. Yet, I can handle pointers, arrays and the coding of data structures just fine. No, I didn't turn out to be a programmer, but none of my Linux, Mac, or Windows support problems involved the proper calculation of yellow and green marbles, and what slots they may fall into.

Christian

[garg]

I did Discrete math before data structures and I think it worked out quite well. If you work a lot of discrete math problems and understand them then it is a lot of .. dare i say it.. fun :)

depends on the teacher too.

[spdracr713]

Take both at the same time. Be a rock star. Besides, discrete is not that hard at all, it's nothing but 1's and 0's. on and off. data structures can get pretty complicated though. But as far as relevancy, there might be a SLIGHT hint of discrete math, but after taking it, i thought it was one of the most pointless math classes i took.

Hi guyz,
I am about to start my third semester in my university. I have options to take Data Structures(CSE 225) or Discrete mathmatics(CSE 173). I am not sure which one take to before the other -- I will be doin both though. What do u guyz think. Will taking Discrete Math earlier help me in Data Structure or vice versa? just willing to know what would u do if u were in my place.
--Thanx

[Asif_NSU]

Well, guyz I have finally taken Discrete Math. I wish I had the guts to be a rockstar like spdracr713, but I have taken two more Math courses and an inorganic chemistry course. And guess what, all of my class-mates have taken data structures, I m the only to take Discrete Math bfor Data Structures. I hope i havent made a mistake.
Anyone did inorganic chemistry in a BS in CSC?

[spdracr713]

Well on the bright side, if you like pie charts, you will like discrete math, cuz that's the last 1/2 of it. But then again, our professor let us make note cards and bring in, and i was the master at small handwriting.
It's really not that bad. Data structures is a lil confusing at first, lots of pushing and popping things out of stacks. Just remember how many levels they are pushed and popped out of, or things tend to get confusing. I used the concepts of data structures for programming in assembly later on, that's when things got hard. But as far as discrete and data structures, i don't really see any correlation between the two. One is math, one is programming. Colleges are weird. I'm just glad I got out before they started forcing us to take like 9 hours of cultural diversity at the college i went to. I don't think i would be able to relate an ounce of it to what i do now. Poor people...

[Asif_NSU]

forgot to inform u guyz, I have taken both Data Structure and Discrete math. I hate chemistry and dropped it. I was actually indpired by the quote:

Take Risks, if u win u will b happy, if u lose u will be wise.

Taking 3 math courses and 1 CS course in a freshman year seems risky enough for me. Pray for me.

[Chainsaw]

Just remember the difference between math and CS. Math is pure and beautiful. CS wishes it were.

Math takes pure concepts and tries to capture their beauty in symbols. If we fail, the concepts are still pure and beautiful, it is we humans who have failed.

CS takes symbols and tries to craft programs of beauty. Being human, we almost always fail to achieve that beauty. Others won't appreciate the beauty of what you wanted to build, they'l be blinded by what you did build.

So your 3:1 ratio seems good!

:-)

[Asif_NSU]

Quite thought provoking things u said there Chainsaw, I just hope I can catch the beauty in Math and live to tell.

[Phaelax]

I'd say math.

[MarkKnutson]

My impression is that the math will be the most useful to take first. Not sure if data structures overlaps, but when I have looked at algorithm books, I have noticed a lot of math background is required.

I have not taken it yet, but I have spent some time with the book, and the discrete math course at my college includes logic, set theory, counting, probability, matrix operations, and I can't recall what else. It is a ton of really helpful stuff if you want to get into computer science as opposed to just being able to code programs.

[Asif_NSU]

Well i have taken both of them at the same time, and my final exam is nearby. Even though I havent got my grades yet but i have gained valuable experience. Data structures is a VERY important part of computer science and when u take the data structures course u need to concentrate solely on this, burdening urself with other tough courses at the same time will not help u learn effectively. U have recursion, pointers, linked list , binary search trees, hashing, sorting and all sorts of nasty and tough algorithms(thing that u don understand even after reading 2 hours, e.g: the tower of hanoi) . I mean data stuctures should be studied alone. And about discrete maths it is also very important as i saw many books it has LOADS of stuffs to teach too. Unfortunately or fortunately my faculty(discrete maths) didnt teach us many of the important stuffs or not yet. Looks like i might need to study some extra stuffs myself.