I knew it was coming someday, I gotta get into advanced math if I want to succeed in data science.
Algebra was never that hard for me, but certain concepts always had me stuck. Like those linear inequalities with the coordinate grids, I NEVER got that. Long division always stumped me. I cringe every time I look at fractions. I was obsessed with converting them to decimals, but that doesn’t work after a certain point.
So now I gotta bite the bullet and learn this all over again. On the bright side, as I get higher, it’ll be more practical. School math is frustrating because it’s so abstract. We have no reference point to tie it to. And even if they did use a real-world problem, it was always unrealistic. You could tell they forced it together to try to be relatable.
I am doing this for data science as a whole, but as of now, I’m learning it to prepare for the CLRS Introduction to Algorithms textbook.
That said, I’m gonna list the algebra and calculus concepts I need to understand for this book. Statistics and probability will be separate posts, so I’ll leave those out of this.
- Exponents and logarithms
- Functions: linear, quadratic, polynomial, exponential, logarithmic, and all of their graphs
- Series and summation notation
- Limits and continuity; in the context of algorithmic analysis
- Inequalities and absolute value expressions
- Asymptotic notations: O, Ω, and Θ; how they describe growth rates
- Derivatives and integrals
- Sequences and recurrences
I ordered these by difficulty, so I’ll be going down the list.
I’ve also had a few people contact me for tutoring sessions. While I’m flattered, I want these posts to be good enough so you don’t have to hire a tutor. And I know math is the main subject that’s holding kids back in school. Which I hate because they shouldn’t be delaying their futures over something so niche. I want a struggling student to be able to read/watch these posts and come out the other end with a better understanding. You are not stupid for not getting this, and ima prove that to you. Let’s get to it.
Grant Abraham 