What level of math do you need to know before programming?

[Grogerian]

Now this depends, a "real" programmer I suppose will understand how the sytem works, how the programming code works (Big O-notaton, cache and memory, etc.) this is a lot of math and of course being good in math can help you as a programmer for problems in programming.

Math has all those word problems everyone loves so much and these allow you to sift through information and how to place it to get a solution. I work like this a lot when programming anything. I usually build a table with what is needed and how I can put it together.

However ANYONE can learn how to program, with no background in math - either by trial and error, or tutorials.

I myself at the university I go to, to take any of the programming courses (which are all 2nd year) Calculus 1 & 2 are pre-requisites, and they reccomend to be taking Discrete structures as well.

[Aereshaa]

I use algebra, trig and geometry regularly. For good graphics you also need some knowledge of optics, for physics you need to know physics, etc. But I agree, algebra and trig is the minimum for games, and even for more basic stuff you still need to understand boolean logic at least. Math != programming, but good programming => good math.

[debtboy]

This is a good thread...
I use a lot of statistics, probability, forecasting, etc...
as I develop programs for the accountants
and mostly basic math for HR and Payroll.

Starting to get into some cool stuff
with internal audit and engineering.

[WingedPanther]

Solid stats + programming can let you do a lot with statistical analysis of systems. Manufacturing and economics both live on stats.

[outsid3r]

I love math, basically it's the base of everything, the root of an hierarchy of many sciences. In the past programmers many programmers where mathematicians, nowadays there are courses of CS and computer engineering so this changed a bit, and like winged says, programming is a branch of mathematics.

[MeTh0Dz]

To begin programming, you just need algebra. Eventually you can tackle a ton of discrete math, depending on what you do.

[TkTech]

I rarely if ever use anything beyond basic math - if I need more (say, radians for 3D) I simply fire up google, find a reference, and learn it.

The only things I truly think are essential is (obviously) + - / *, binary logic (xor, and, nand, ect...), and binary algebra. Knowing how to do math in base 8 and 16 off the top of your head is also handy.

[Aereshaa]

I just asked my dad. He said the programmers at his company need to learn to understand probability.

[WingedPanther]

Business and manufacturing runs on statistics (and probability).

[JCoder]

Deep understanding of the algorithms and data structures is an essential thing that differentiates a real programmer from a code monkey. If you know maths - you can be better than those who do not.
Of course this is not the only criterium. Ability to think at the different levels of abstractions simultaneously is also very important, especially if you want to specialize as a software architect (and this ability pure mathematicians often lack).