Hiya I have been programming now for a year and a half or so and lately I have been getting into things that are very complex math maticly wise and I have been wondering how most people remember some of these complex equations and algorithms. I would think that the average programmer has a stack of print outs and notes but would that be exceptable for a professional? I know that you always have the internet but it takes to long sometimes to find stuff and gets anoying when your just trying to refresh your self on something. What books are good to have for refrences and such? A lot of people always mention getting out the ''old college text book'' but I haven''t been to college yet so well, thats out Im sure that the average programmer can''t remember a quaternion slerp all the time. Is it ok to read others code sometimes such as nvidias or such, even for a pro? Well, gotta go (lighting...blah!) Thanks quite a lot!

quote:Original post by no one
I would think that the average programmer has a stack of print
outs and notes but would that be exceptable for a professional?

Yes, it''s fine. As long as you can do the job and meet your deadlines, nobody is going to worry about you having notes for complex stuff etc.

The more you use certain things (i.e practical experience), the more they become second nature. For example I remember the properties of a dot product and Lambertian diffuse and specular illumination because I''ve had to use them lots.

I know and remember the uses and properties of things like the cross product and determinant, but don''t always remember the formation off by heart (unless I use reminders like the Sarrus scheme - I still think of SOH CAH TOA when using trig...)

quote:I know that you always have the internet but it takes to long sometimes to find stuff and gets anoying when your just trying to refresh your self on something.

Bookmarks are your friend :o)

graphicspapers.com
siggraph.org
mathworld.wolfram.com
developer.nvidia.com
etc etc etc

quote:What books are good to have for refrences and such? A lot of people always mention getting out the ''old college text book''
but I haven''t been to college yet so well, thats out

It depends on whether it''s just plain maths or the application of that maths. I tend to have books relating to the particular application such as Realtime Rendering, Computer Graphics Principles & Practice etc.

As for deciding which book. On most commercial projects you''ll have a schedule to work to so you''ll know what you''re doing the next day. I know what I''m doing tomorrow at work - so I can dig out the books that are most relevant to that subject the night before. I keep them in my bag and refer to them if there''s something I can''t remember - or remember seeing that could be of use.

quote:Im sure that the average programmer can''t remember a quaternion slerp all the time. Is it ok to read others code sometimes such as nvidias or such, even for a pro?

Correct. Though most companies have already written maths libraries (the person who wrote them still likely had a reference book or some existing source to check against).

Hiya

Thanks a lot! I have been a bit worried that I would need to be a math guru to ever get into the industry.

This sorta brings me a new question though. Ive heard that to really be a good graphics programmer, you need to know your math.
If you dont know exactly how the math works, but how to use it and where to find the equation, do you still need to know how it works and or why it does? I quess thats a matter of "you probably should, but are not required".

Also, how do you guys feel about using 3rd party libs such as
math engine or something like that as apose to doing it for yourself?

Thanks again!

Sorry for the off-topic ness, but is this "no_one" as in the (in)famous no_one_2000_ of graphical calc fame?

Hiya

Nope benryves, im just no one
Ok, I didnt meen to start a flam of anysort, I just wanted
some advice really. Until I got into programming, I had no
desire what so ever to learn math and now that I need it im having a hard time learning it. Im ok with it I would say, I can normaly figure things out.

I never really settle with "it works because it just does"
I usually ask my self "how does it work" or something like that.
I want to make a game engine but the lack of a good math background is really what is stopping me.

I would like to go to fullsail but in an article I read here at gamedev, the guy said that they cram trig, linear algebra and geometry down your throat in like 1 month, so I have a problem
"where should I start and what should I do to learn".

Im sure im not the only person that loves programming but doesn''t know math to well, atleast I hope not

Thanks for any advice
and thank you S1CA and A.P
Cheers