Should Math Be a Prerequisite for Programming?

I am a programmer/software engineer/web designer/web developer/and many other names that we are given... and never took math for programming. I never went to school for programming. I never studied programming. I taught myself programming at 12 years old and simply had to re-educate myself for skills in the real world when the time called for it. In fact, to get out of a programming class in college, I despised math so much that I took Python programming, which was allowed as an alternative. Not saying that math is not necessary, but I just was not math-oriented. I would say if there is anything requirements.. they should be Logic and Critical Thinking.

Not saying that we don't use math in programming.. it definitely is used in programming, but sometimes math is that "scary requirement" that almost prevents people from even considering programming classes... when they have the potential to be a master at the skill, and I'm sure if it wasn't a requirement, more people would actually go into it or consider studying it, but its just that "math" scares people, and while some math should be required, to have intensive math classes is just insane. Math was the reason I never went for a "Computer Science" degree in school, yet I could say I do "computer science" for a living. I've worked/work as a computer engineer/software developer/web developer/etc.

I don't think I use a lot of geometry, or calculus, or trigonometry when I'm coding. I use a lot more logical thinking and critical thinking. I tend to think: "Okay, I want my code to do this. What do I have to write in order to get it to do this." Then: "If this happens, I want this to happen." I then have to write that code.

In other words, programming can basically be broken down into a set of simple steps: 1. User signs up for an account. -> User gets a free trial period. 2. If user pays for a subscription, user is moved to X plan. 3. If user is on X plan, user gets X privilege. 4. If user is not on X plan, user does not get X privilege. 5. Repeat processes.

None of this hardly requires any actual math. It requires a huge amount of logical, critical, and creative thinking, from understanding user inputs (user signing up for an account), to writing to the database (user changing settings), to reading from the database (user using the product), to interpreting the data (displaying and reading data so that you can charge them for what they have used), and outputting that data (the user is paying you for a service they want and you are delivering it to them). Math was rarely ever used. Logic, however, was used constantly.

I think it would be better to teach students "the understanding of real world application". In other words: teach them about supply and demand, about pricing systems/profit systems, about building applications that people would want to use or need to use, about building product that change the world, or even minimal product that still are specially designed for companies and serve a purpose.

Everything I have learned has been from trial and error. I came up with a web application called https://mypost.io, which allows you to create beautiful simple web pages in minutes with just a few clicks. Since my creation of this website, I have learned a lot about everything. From databases to the value of privacy, to the fact that if the product is great, it requires very little advertising, as word of mouth is far greater than any amount of money you can spend on a product.

While I certainly would never condone the learning of math for programming, and I do encourage it, as it will teach any programmer the understanding of mathematics and logic, I really don't think it needs to be a requirement. There are more important things to learn about software development, software engineering, and programming. I would say that the math requirement is the simple need for colleges and universities to meet the requirements of the STEM fields. If you are a programmer and you are not mathematically inclined, don't feel turned away. Go for it. If programming is what you dream about and is in your blood, than don't let math stop you. Just because someone tells you something is required and you are not good at it doesn't mean that you have to be good at it. I'm horrible at math. I need a calculator for most of my calculations, but using logic, I can write web applications and code that works.