Mathematics and programming: marriage or divorce?

The literature about teaching programming usually reputes its learning as a difficult task. Some of them studied different aspects aiming to identify the reasons behind the high failure rates, such as students' mathematics background and text comprehension. This study is focused on identifying which mathematical knowledge positively correlates with programming skills acquisition. We claim that mathematical concepts related to induction, inference and logical reasoning are among such knowledge. To confirm it we conducted a quasi-experiment with students who were enrolled at a first programming course (CS1). We analysed their mathematical knowledge through a test and gathered information on their difficulties and strategies used to overcome their programming difficulties. The data sample was too small to allow for strong assertions. However, the results indicates a possible correlation between mathematical abilities and programming potential. Also, students repute the logic of programming and teaching methodology as the main sources of difficulties. Furthermore, many of them prefer to ask their teachers or look at websites to tackle their difficulties.