Ask HN: Learning what math for algorithms?
I've recently come across an excellent book, introduction of algorithms. I implemented the first section of the book, insertion sort, in python and was very happy to do so. However, I am still confused as to how insertion sort's complexity is determined. I've never taken calculus before, but I have a feeling learning algorithms may take more math than that. If I were to read books such as introduction to algorithms and Donald Knuth's books, what math should I study on? And are these available online somewhere (maybe khan academy, or perhaps some college with free courses)?
2 comments
Learning some basic calculus is quite handy, but everything usually just boils down to algebra and mathematical induction.
Discrete math.
From calculus, you will want to learn summations (the big sigma; it's basically a for loop).
From calculus, you will want to learn summations (the big sigma; it's basically a for loop).