<p>Hey guys. Scheduling for next year is in a couple of weeks for my school and I need some help. I'm interested in taking AP Comp Sci A but I haven't taken any previous programming courses [java, design]. Is the course/exam still manageable without prior experience? Any personal experiences, comments, suggestions are welcome!</p>
<p>Thanks in advance! :)</p>
<p>At my school the only prerequisite is completing Algebra 2, shoudl be fine if you are good in math</p>
<p>You need no programming experience AT ALL.
Have fun :)</p>
<p>You definitely don’t need any prior programming experience for the AP curriculum. Do check with your counselor first though, because I’ve heard of some courses that go considerably beyond it.</p>
<p>you def dont need any experience. you’ll probably find yourself surprised at how easy it is.</p>
<p>even if it does go beyond standard curriculum, you should still be fine</p>
<p>o.O I don’t really know how much the AP course is supposed to cover, but it really depends on how good your teacher is… If you have a teacher who is just bad at explaining things you are kind of doomed in comp sci unless ur really good at reading out of a textbook. Otherwise, if you have a teacher who knows what he or she is doing and can explain concepts well, you can cover the whole AP course in like a month.</p>
<p>I myself have taken some intro courses and taught myself out of various textbooks, but I never really had an AP course until this year. However, when I got to the course, I knew all the material xD</p>
<p>Except for Big-Oh notation. I can’t seem to master that… can someone tell me what parts of Big-Oh and speeds of sorting algorithms we need to know for AP Comp Sci A?</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I think I’m going to take it. My school allows students to skip if they have taken up to pre-calc honors [which I am in this year], so I’m guessing it should be OK. </p>
<p>Just in case…what is the best textbook and review book for the course?</p>
<p>I have heard that Barron’s AP Computer Science Levels A and AB and Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java by Litvin are the best 2 books.</p>
<p>Mixed opinions on each – some say Barron’s is way harder and nitpicks a lot more, but others say it is very accurate. Overall everyone seems to agree that Barron’s is a thorough review, and if you can master the book you can master the test. Litvin’s book seems to be slightly more on the easy side, and people tend to breeze through it more easily and are worried it isn’t challenging enough. However, people say it is great at explaining concepts and is a great review if you are cram studying. Personally I am working my way through the Barron’s book and haven’t purchased Litvin’s yet, but while Barron’s review stuff for the SAT is ridiculous, the review here for the AP Comp Sci seems to be fairly good. I still need a good review source for Big-Oh notation though… does anyone know a good site or book that explains sorting speeds and Big-Oh notation for insertion, selection, bubble, and merge sorts?</p>