Are all programmers good at math?

Do math and programming go hand in hand? Do I need to be good at math to be good at programming? Are they similar? These are questions that we get daily from potential students. The short answer is no, you do not need to be good at math to be good at programming.

You do not need to be good with numbers to be a good programmer. Math by definition really is just the science of numbers. [Source: Merriam-Webster]

There are many different fields of programming and many of those don’t require a particularly high standard of mathematical knowledge. For example, if you’re interested in Web or Mobile Development, you can definitely be a very good programmer and make little to no use of math in your career.

Programming is all about logical thinking. Being able to break problems down into chunks, and use research coupled with technology to solve those problems.

As a programmer, many of the problems you encounter will utilize algorithms that are already created. You are much more likely to implement an existing algorithm than create one from scratch. Need to work out, say, the area of a rectangle? You must first recognize what you need to do, then look-up the formula and apply it. You don’t need to memorize the formula or devise one on your own. Most of the problems have already been solved, you just need to know how to implement the solutions in your language of choice. That’s not to say that being good at maths wouldn’t be an advantage; it’s just that it isn’t totally essential.