I'm a high school student hoping to become a programmer, but I'm worried because I really dislike physics and graphs. I enjoy algebra, chemistry, calculus, logical reasoning, and solving problems, yet physics feels like memorizing disconnected information, and graphs make me anxious too. I've tried to get interested in physics, but I keep feeling overwhelmed whenever I encounter a new concept. How important is physics for programming? If I struggle with it, should I reconsider becoming a programmer, or should I keep working at it?
4 Answers
If you choose robotics, hardware, graphics, game development, GPS, or scientific simulations, physics can matter a lot. In those fields, understanding the subject helps you work with domain experts and implement realistic calculations. For general software development, though, you can learn the relevant physics later if your career actually requires it. You don't need to decide your entire future based on one high school subject.
Graphs are more directly connected to computer science than physics. They appear in data structures, networks, maps, dependency systems, and algorithms. However, you normally learn standard graph algorithms as needed rather than inventing everything from scratch. Since you enjoy logic and problem solving, you may find programming graphs easier when they are presented as relationships between objects instead of as abstract diagrams. Keep learning programming and see which areas interest you before judging whether you belong in the field.
For most programming careers, physics is barely relevant. Web development, business software, mobile apps, and many other jobs usually require little more than basic algebra. Physics becomes important in specialized areas such as game engines, graphics, robotics, simulations, embedded systems, and scientific or engineering software. You can have a successful programming career without working in any of those fields.
Physics is useful less because every programmer needs to calculate forces and motion, and more because it teaches you how to model a system and reason from evidence. Those skills transfer well to programming. Still, you don't need to master physics before learning to code, and difficulty with one class doesn't mean you're unsuited for software development. It may also be worth considering whether the problem is the teaching style or the way the material is being presented.
That makes sense. I was treating programming as one single career, but it sounds like the physics requirements depend heavily on the specific area.