[vukmir]

>Calculus is actually important for Computer Science, it's actually important for everything

This.

If you take a look at the MIT course "Mathematics for Computer Science"[1] you'll see that the only prerequisite for learning the math for cs is ... calculus!

[1]http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...

[stepstep]

I was a TA for that course last semester. I think the actual reason calculus is a prerequisite is just so that students will have some mathematical maturity beforehand. We didn't really teach any concepts that actually used calculus (that I remember).

That said, I totally agree that calculus is good to know for a CS student.

[stiff]

Oh, you do use calculus, at least in the notes, actually touching on the topics I mentioned, so it's a good illustration. For example in the chapters about generating functions and on sums and asymptotics:

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...