Non-Technical trying to gain mathematical foundation for programming; tips?

[vorbb]

Hey guys,

I've always been a non-technical guy, but am looking to move towards a more programming oriented role. I'm interested in getting in to more "deep" programming then the "fluffy" stuff.

I feel like I should get a good foundation in math before I delve in to these problems. Can anyone recommend books or resources to learn the types of math I would encounter in programming? I've looked through Khan Academy, but want more.

If this helps, I took AP math classes in High School, but did relatively poorly due to lack of effort. I'm not a genius, but I can get stuff if I put my mind to it.

[devs1010]

Discrete math is what tends to be useful in programming. I have a couple years experience as a developer but I guess I'd say I'm sort of in the same boat as you where I am trying to gain a more solid grounding in mathematics to hopefully eventually move away from doing CRUD style development. I got a book off Amazon called "Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics" that was really cheap (the total with shipping was like $4-5), so maybe check that out.

[vorbb]

Cheap is good! I'll take a look. Thanks!

[devs1010]

*cough cough, tons of resources to be found if you download off torrent sites too (even some that would cost money otherwise)

[robdoherty2]

Try Project Euler (projecteuler.net). It is a site of increasingly difficult math puzzle challenges, most of which require some programming to solve.

I have learned a lot of really great math by solving some of these problems (I haven't solved more than the beginner level so far).

I also had to do quite a bit of outside reading to solve some of them, while others can be solved in a just a few minutes.

[vorbb]

I completely forgot about Project Euler... Heard about it years ago. Thanks!

[russjhammond]

I just started reading Code and think as a fellow non-technical person this is a great lace to start.