Do I need math to be able to do js?

Hi everyone,
I have a question please, I want to learn JS but I'm pretty bad in maths ( not basic math though) so do I really need to be good in maths in order to program in js? or it's ok, and what do I need to know before start learning this language?
Thanks alot rgds

 

Well, you won't know your real capabilities until you've pushed it to the limit (is that a quote from a movie). In any scripting languages, just try and don't give up learning!

 

Technically, no you don't need maths. It depends on what you want to do, however. If you just want to use js to up skills in webdesign, or use basic functionality (basic is here being toted as a very wide definition), you don't really need any more than basic algebra. If you plan on doing complex animations, game-design, advanced calculations etc. of course you'll need math to create the algoritms.
However, knowing at least some basic math concepts never hurts when you're trying to code - usually, a lot of complex problems involve math.

 

Yep I just wanna use it to up my skills in webdesign : ), thank you PoPSiCLe

 

Javascript, and basically every programming language, is advanced math. If math frustrates you, programming will as well.

 

How so? You can use almost any programming language to do advanced math, but when it comes to quite a lot of programming, it be for web, Android, iOS or similar, you might not even touch basic arithmetic - so why do you say programming languages are advanced math? Granted, some math is found in the compiler, or interpreter, but again, the basic programming doesn't need to have anything to do with math, at all.

 

every road starts with only one step... i am not good with math and i learned JS with no problems.
just be brave, make start and you will make it easily : )

 

Nerevarq,

Khan Academy has a great course on learning to program using JavaScript. It includes an interactive editor that runs your program as you write it. Check it out here: www.khanacademy.org /cs/programming

 

Technically no. You are all set already as all you need to have is eargerness to learn, finding the best site to learn the basics and trying out the examples. Suggested site is http://www.w3schools.com/js/. Enjoy!

 

You don't need to have know math to code in JS, though I assume you know basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Having a command over math would help you do things faster and more efficiently if you are coding algorithms.
Coding is basically logic(any language) and adding effects to websites(in JS) would not require math.

I would advise you to learn jQuery as vanilla Javascript isn't used as much now.

 

I started programming when I was about 9 years old and it would be a stretch to say I had learnt much mathematics by that stage. However, with a bit of effort I was able to understand variables, for loops, goto statements (forgive me, I was Vic 20 BASIC and I hadn't read any Dijkstra yet) and basic co-ordinate geometry to put graphics on the screen.

I eventually went on to complete an honours degree in Pure Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. Although I focused mainly on analysis, I also studied quite a bit of discrete maths, number theory, logic and computability theory. Apart from being able to apply a few ideas from statistics, probability theory, vector analysis and linear algebra to programming, there was little maths I studied that was directly applicable to my programming during my undergraduate degree and the commercial and research programming I did afterwards.

However, I strongly believe the formal methods of thinking that mathematics demands — careful reasoning, searching for counter-examples, building axiomatic foundations, spotting connections between concepts — has been a tremendous help when I have tackled large and complex programming projects.

Consider the way athletes train for their sport. For example, footballers no doubt spend much of their training time on basic football skills. However, to improve their general fitness they might also spend time at the gym on bicycle or rowing machines, doing weights, etc.

Studying mathematics can be likened to weight-training or cross-training to improve your mental strength and stamina for programming. It is absolutely essential that you practice your basic programming skills but studying mathematics is an incredible mental work-out that improves your core analytic ability.

 

Like @Russabali I started at a young age, to the point I had barely even had any school at age 7, but was handy with a soldering iron and self taught myself RCA 1802 machine language... (hand assembling it and entering 8 bits at a time on toggle switches)

While some math concepts can help, programming is more about logic than math. What used to be called fourth grade math skills (so... high school graduate level now?) would have been overkill, the only thing added beyond simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication would be short division, so you at least understand what a modulo is. (a fancy word for 'remainder'). Certainly understanding some binary math for the use of or/and/xor/not would be handy, it's even easier to day as unless you're going balls deep into hardware level stuff it is very unlikely you'd need to understand a whole lot of binary, octal or hexadecimal.

Again, logic and the ability to follow logic flow is far, FAR more important. While I never used them, you might want to study up on flowcharts to get a grasp on how logic-flow in a program works... though even that isn't entirely applicable since a lot of programs are not 'event driven' throwing the mere concept into 'needlessly complicated' land. Still, it's a good starting point to get the basics down.

... also, programming is only as hard as you make it; and a lot of people make it WAY more complicated than need be. If it feels like something is too hard or too much effort, you're probably doing it wrong; at that point ASK FOR HELP.

NOTHING in programming will help you more than good research skills and the ability to swallow your pride and ASK!