How Is Math Used in Computer Engineering?
Combinatorics All computer programs do some form of counting as a small part of a task. Counting a hundred items does not take a long time, even without a computer. However, some computers may have to count a billion items or more. If the counting is not done efficiently, it may take days for a program to finish a report when it should take only minutes. For example, the counting winning lottery numbers of all lottery tickets should involve stopping a ticket count when the minimum number of correct numbers cannot be reached on that particular ticket. When the lottery numbers on each ticket are presorted, the count can be very quick with a divide and conquer strategy. The branch of mathematics called combinatorics gives students the theory needed to code counting programs that include the short cuts that will reduce the run time of the program. Algorithms After a count has been completed, a task to do something with the actual number from the count is needed. The number of steps needed
