离散数学是数学的几个分支的总称，研究基于离散空间而不是连续的数学结构。与光滑变化的实数不同，离散数学的研究对象——例如整数、图和数学逻辑中的命题——不是光滑变化的，而是拥有不等、分立的值。因此离散数学不包含微积分和分析等「连续数学」的内容。离散对象经常可以用整数来枚举。更一般地，离散数学被视为处理可数集合（与整数子集基数相同的集合，包括有理数集但不包括实数集）的数学分支。 。但是，“离散数学”不存在准确且普遍认可的定义。实际上，离散数学经常被定义为不包含连续变化量及相关概念的数学，甚少被定义为包含什幺内容的数学。

Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete rather than continuous. In contrast to real numbers that have the property of varying "smoothly", the objects studied in discrete mathematics – such as integers, graphs, and statements in logic – do not vary smoothly in this way, but have distinct, separated values. Discrete mathematics therefore excludes topics in "continuous mathematics" such as calculus and analysis. Discrete objects can often be enumerated by integers. More formally, discrete mathematics has been characterized as the branch of mathematics dealing with countable sets (sets that have the same cardinality as subsets of the natural numbers, including rational numbers but not real numbers). However, there is no exact definition of the term "discrete mathematics." Indeed, discrete mathematics is described less by what is included than by what is excluded: continuously varying quantities and related notions.