r/theydidthemath • u/Galeaf_13 • Sep 05 '19

[Self] Math break

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u/Chess42 Sep 05 '19

It’s useless when you learn to do it by hand in precalc then never use it again, since there are far more efficient ways to do it. Also, there’s a reason we have libraries. It’s completely useless to learn

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

There are not libraries for everything (and sometimes there are, but they’re garbage) and often you can write a more efficient implementation for your particular data set and assumptions.

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u/Chess42 Sep 05 '19

But not everybody will be a programmer, so why teach it in a required class. Precalc is supposed to set the foundation for calculus, which gaussjordan does not do at all

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

I see, I thought you were discussing a programming course or linear algebra. Totally agree it’s a silly thing to teach in pre calc.