Preserved Topic: How much math do I really need? (Page 1 of 1)

I just want to know how much math is really needed for DHTML and XML. I've heard from some people that you need calculous(sp?) and all this other stuff to do it. thanks

~Aaron
Don't ask me how I know what I know or why I do what I do.

It kinda depends what you want to do. I'm not very familiar with xml, but as far as dhtml, you don't necessarily *need* to know high-level math for most of the basic stuff like showing/hiding/dragging layers. On the other hand, some of the mouse effects and layer movements require at least trig and calc is definitely helpful. The little slime guy at slime's homepage http://www.karl.nu/slime/
is a good example of this.

in my opinion you can get away with most things in web design without advanced math... in fact, i've yet to find anything that challenges the calculus i learned back in high school and when i was first an engineering student.

on the other hand, if you ever encounter anything difficult with math.. it'll probably be a general concept, which you'll be able to learn for that specific reason anyways.

in other words, don't worry about it.

cheers.mikey.milker

Here's a little word from me to you, voice of experience and all that jazz, heh. SAVE YOUR TEXTBOOKS! You may not need what's in them now, maybe not for years yet, but when you do need it, it's awfully nice to be able to look it up. What you're learning right now, think of it as learning what you might *want* to know later on. You don't need to memorize all the math, but you'll need to find the right book when you want to calculate something specific, dig?

Your pal, -doc-

Thanks for the info guys.

~Aaron
Don't ask me how I know what I know or why I do what I do.

Mikey's right, and if you're a real geek at heart (like me) you'll find that once you learn Calculus and other higher mathematics you start seeing the applications EVERYWHERE you look. That in turn opens your eyes to all sorts of new ways to do things in your own work. Not only that but it might also shed important light on how things work in some of the applications you're using. Like bezier curves for instance, or how the lighting actually hits those bump maps in Bryce... The more you understand what is happening when you use a feature of a program the better you are able to use it to generate new and unexplored effects PREDICTABLY.