Learning D for a non computer science background person : pre-requisite knowledge?

[Mayuresh Kathe via Digitalmars-d-learn]

On Tuesday, 2 December 2014 at 17:10:57 UTC, Tobias Pankrath 
wrote:
>> Thanks for the welcome. :)
>>
>> I think I'll just work through Discrete Mathematics and 
>> Machine Organization before approaching Mr. Alexandrescu's 
>> book, would take up only 6 ~ 8 months of my time, and would be 
>> really good for me in the long term.
>
> No! If you know how to program and want to learn D, start 
> reading Andrei's book now. Any discrete math class is only a 
> distraction. Read up on discrete math in parallel or if the 
> need arises.

Okay, if that is the case, I'll dive into Mr. Alexandrescu's book 
as soon as I get my copy.

BTW, how come all of you address him as Andrei?
Is this group that informal?
Asking, just so that I don't become the odd man. :)