<p>So I'm planning on majoring in computer science in college, and I'm trying to teach myself Python over the summer. Are any of you also planning on majoring CS? What have you guys done relating to the field?</p>
<p>I want to major in math, so I feel like I should be really into computer science, but I’m not really. I’ve never programmed anything. I suppose I’ll learn it at some point. I’d probably be more employable if I minored in it.</p>
<p>Are there any programming courses in your school? Like we have Computer Math, which is an introduction to JAVA. I’ll be taking that this year (junior year) and then AP Computer Science senior year.</p>
<p>ap cs is awful.
C is the best language to learn first</p>
<p>I plan to double major in Computer Science and Business. I actually learned Java first, and I’m currently learning HTML. I may go to a summer program for computer programming this year or next year, and I’m really excited. I also signed up for an Introduction to Computer Science course on edX, that will begin on January 1st of next year. I’m not very aware with a lot of computer programming languages, so I think edX would help a lot. In junior year, I’m going to take AP Computer Science at my school. I really want to try and get any computer-related internship or volunteer opportunities as soon as possible, though.</p>
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<p>No. I suppose that gets me off the hook for awhile. :)</p>
<p>Python is not that hard to learn - I actually started with that as my first real programming language.</p>
<p>@Jwenn556, is it really? Like, how awful?
@Factfollow, I actually want to major in CS and minor in Business. Wow, that’s amazing, hope you have fun! I’m currently doing an online course on Udacity that teaches Python but it’s really hard learning from YouTube videos. Same, I really want some computer-related opportunities as well.
@halcyonheather, I guess you are off the hook, haha. 
@quidditchcat, I’m finding it hard. How did you learn it?</p>
<p>I mainly just got a ton of python books (they were all less than 2 bucks so I was like why not"). Also, codecademy.com is a great resource.</p>
<p>you don’t learn programming in AP CS;
you learn 1 language.</p>
<p>I took an Introduction to Computer Science course this past year in high school, and it taught me a lot! I definitely figured out what coding/programming is like. To give you a sample of what we learned: Python, Java, JavaScript, HTML, MySQL, PHP, and Boolean Algebra. The entire year, we had assignments where we had to write a program to complete some sort of task. Then we FTPed it, uploaded the assignment to our websites, and then submitted the URL to our teacher. If anyone is interested in computer science, I recommend taking an intro course first before trying to learn languages. You’ll find out soon enough that most languages have a lot of commonalities between them. If you want to start learning a language, HTML is the best to learn first. It’s the easiest language to learn (in my opinion), and it’s what most people use to create websites. :)</p>
<p>@quidditchcat, I just got a free ebook called Think Python, so I guess I’ll start learning from that. Where exactly do we use Python though?
@Jwen556, well they teach Java, right? That’s a programming language.
@Foodlover001, I’m taking Intro to Computer Science on Udacity. It’s kind of hard but I hope the ebook I got will help. I actually tried learning HTML when I was around 10. It wasn’t too hard. :)</p>
<p>Have any of you gotten certified in a programming language?</p>
<p>There’s no point in getting certified in a language unless you are actively seeking a job.</p>
<p>As for C being the best language, it doesn’t matter what language you use, only that you learn programming itself (and Python is a great starter language for that).</p>
<p>Python is a multi-purposed language that basically “masks” over C. It takes the ugly stuff out of C at the cost of some performance, so I’d recommend only using it for some small side web/gui projects (i.e scraping, algorithm tests, etc), which is what you’d be using programming for anyways.</p>
<p>edx.org has a great course on Python. </p>
<p>Also, for anybody interested in higher level programming, Udacity.com has some pretty intense online courses.</p>
<p>@sluchy523- Oh, okay. I was just wondering if people actually do that. Thanks a lot!
@BurnOut- I tried taking the Intro to Computer Science course on Udacity.com. It’s pretty hard if you ask me…</p>
<p>@AnImpAffliction</p>
<p>No problem. If you need any help, consult stackoverflow.com. It was (and still is) a great resource for figuring out anything related to programming.</p>
<p>Have you decided on a side project to focus on yet?</p>
<p>I wanna major in CS :000 I’ve been programming in Java, C, Python, JS, PHP, etc. since I was 12-ish; I love it, it’s fun, and it pays well. I guess it would be a smart decision to start as early as you can…? I’m doing backend Android development for a small group project with some internet friends right now… try and get on something like that. If it ever amounts to anything of value, you can always put it on a college app.</p>
<p>@sluchy523, I haven’t. Have you done a side project? And thanks for the website, I’ll check it out.</p>
<p>@rmjmdr97, Dang, you’re like lightyears ahead of me. I didn’t figure out what I wanted to be until sophomore year (this past year). Maybe if I figured it out earlier, I could’ve started programming earlier. But whatever. That sounds really cool! Unfortunately I don’t have many friends who are into programming. But I do have one friend who’s learning Java, so maybe I can do something with her. But that’s a good idea!</p>
<p>I also took the intro to cs course on Udacity last summer. It was somewhat challenging because it was online, and I felt they focused on theory rather than actual programming.</p>
<p>@Foodlover001, you completed the whole course? Do you get some kind of certificate at the end just to prove you did it?</p>