How deep should my math background be before tackling SICP?

HI, I've been trying to work my way thru the SICP book, I found myself cribbing some of the online answers but getting the overall ideas of recursive vs. iterative procedures, etc. But I'm getting to the ord开发者_如何学Pythoners of growth section, and the math is really over my head.

To give an idea of my math skills, this morning I spent an hour learning how to add and subtract fractions with exponents....

Anyway, my math chops have to come way up, and I will work on that. But is there a short list of concepts to be familiar with before tackling SICP? I WILL tackle that damn book if it kills me...I think it's awesome, but I want to approach it in the best way possible.

Right now I'm thinking my time might be best used tackling some fundamental algorithms while I'm getting my math chops together.

Any recommendations? Thanks! bp

Sounds like SICP would be way too heavy for you. Try out HtDP instead for a book that will teach you programming in a similar style but much easier on the math.

Ideally, you should have some calculus skills to go through SICP. Being able to integrate and differentiate functions would be the highest-level math that I've come across so far. (I'm currently working my way through it myself)

So, at MIT, people would take the SICP class in first year after tackling calculus for a semester. The first time I went through the book, the math was way over my head. As I trudged through my university calculus class, a lot of the first chapter made more sense. You're probably going to be more comfortable going through the book with at least a first year calculus course under your belt.

That being said, I started the book before returning to university for a CS degree. At first, I wasn't able to grok all the math examples, but I still understood what was being conveyed. Revisiting the chapters after learning calculus merely enriched the experience. It wasn't a requirement.

I'm only about half way through the book, but from what I see, it's only the first few chapters of the book the require any kind of math skill. Hard work and skipping over select questions will get you over those humps.

I hope you do decide to go through the book. It's quite an enlightening experience.

Some discrete math would be also be very useful for SICP. I recommend Rosen's Discrete Math. I got a copy of the 5th edition and Solutions Manual for $12 at Half Price Books.