Prerequisite reading for Concrete Mathematics?

Question

I'm a freshman computer science major who has just started reading Concrete Mathematics, mathematics for computer science. Is there any prerequisite reading or learning I should do before embarking on reading this book?

Answer 1

Heh, I almost taught a class with this text. You should know some basics first, since they don't spend too much time on them. In particular, you should have

• some basic set theory (what sets are, what operations on sets mean)
• some comfort in what an induction proof is and how they generally look (yes the book discusses them in general, but they spend more time applying them)
• some calculus, enough to know what a Riemann sum is and what Riemann integration means
• a little comfort about sequences and series
• knowledge of complex numbers
• a willingness to work through problems and a natural curiosity

Anything else that you run into that's unfamiliar, you can probably pick up on the fly. Good luck!