What are the applications of calculus in computer science and programming (anything related to computer) ? ?

Question

Please answer a bit specifically, like telling the application(s) of taylor series or maclaurin expansion or Leibnitz rule,etc. not just calculus in general.

It'll be great if u could also tell me the links where I could find this information. I need to make a small presentation(just 3 pages) on a calculus topic focusing on its application in computers.

Thanks a lot for all your help....

Answer 1

Taylor series is used when you have a function which value is difficult to calculate. For example, how can you calculate sin(21.342 degrees)? You are usually not interested in absolute mathematical accuracy (let's say that for most work the accuracy of 10 digits after decimal point is enough)

There are cases when you need just a rough approximation - it does not have to be very accurate but must be very simple to calculate (e.g. during a math test where you want a quick way of testing if the answer looks more or less right). This is also often used in scientific materials as often the error caused by calculating the series to "n=1 or 2 instead of infinity" is small enough to be neglected. To find out, use your calculator to compare sin (0.1) with 0.1-(0.1^3)/6 [all arguments in radians].

Take a look at the wikipedia too :)