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Showerthought: I used to think you had to be a math genius to code

Last week, I was helping my nephew with his beginner Python project in Chicago, a simple number guessing game. I told him he'd need to be great at math, but he just used basic logic and a few 'if' statements. Three years ago, I avoided a web dev bootcamp because I thought my algebra grades were too low. Seeing him get it with just addition and comparison totally flipped my view. What's a coding myth you believed before you started?
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3 Comments
harper_carter81
That "math genius" idea is a huge blocker for so many people. Most day to day coding is just clear thinking and breaking problems into small steps. The math needed is usually pretty basic stuff.
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henry_martinez
Totally agree with @harper_carter81. I tried to learn coding years ago and got scared off by all the talk of complex math. Finally gave it another shot and realized it's mostly logic puzzles. You're just telling the computer what to do in simple steps. The hardest math I've done so far is basic percentages and maybe a little algebra. That myth about needing to be a math whiz keeps so many people from even trying.
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kelly.nora
kelly.nora19d ago
Wait, people really think you need advanced math? I got through my first dev job just fine with basic arithmetic.
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