.. _MathpreIntro:

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.. This file is part of the OpenDSA eTextbook project. See
.. http://algoviz.org/OpenDSA for more details.
.. Copyright (c) 2012-2016 by the OpenDSA Project Contributors, and
.. distributed under an MIT open source license.

.. avmetadata:: 
   :author: Cliff Shaffer
   :satisfies: math introduction
   :topic: Math Background

Chapter Introduction
====================

This chapter presents mathematical notation,
background, and techniques used throughout the modules.
This material is provided primarily for review and reference.
You might wish to return to the relevant sections when you encounter
unfamiliar notation or mathematical techniques in later chapters.

The concept of :ref:`estimation  <Estimation>` might be
unfamiliar to many readers.
Estimation is not a mathematical technique, but rather a general
engineering skill.
It is enormously useful to computer scientists doing design work,
because any proposed solution whose estimated resource requirements
fall well outside the problem's resource constraints can be
discarded immediately, allowing time for greater analysis of more
promising solutions.