I often think about rates flows and how they relate to each other. For example to do monitoring we count the total number of messages received in each task at a given time, then use the diffrence to get a rate. That is basically differentiation and understanding calculus makes it easier.
The other thing you acquire from doing Calculus is problem solving experience, figuring out how to apply various approaches to a problem to get to a desired solution. In this way calculus strengthens your brain similar to how a sports player might do weight lifting even if their sport doesn't involve lifting heavy objects.
There is an enormous amount of evidence that weight lifting transfers to sports. But I don't think there is much if any evidence that calculus transfers to general problem solving.
We have very similar profiles.
I use calculus every day.
> Statistics is 100% for sure more useful to me, in everyday life and at work.
I use statistics every day too, working on ML systems.
> That's the thing I really ought to work to get better at.
The calculus comes in pretty damn quick. See also the third point in my original post; concretely, every ML course I've ever seen requires Calculus as a pre-requisite.
34 years old. Been writing software since I was 14. Used to know some calculus and sometimes poke at picking it back up because I feel like I "ought to". Have usually been the one to tackle tough or odd problems where I've worked.
Haven't once managed to find a reason to use calculus for anything whatsoever. Not a damn thing to differentiate, not a damn thing to integrate. I think the need for it is in a very, very narrow slice of all jobs, even in "STEM".
Statistics is 100% for sure more useful to me, in everyday life and at work. And I've not even worked on anything especially stats-ish, it just happens to come up a lot. That's the thing I really ought to work to get better at.