<p>I'm not exactly good at computers. and writing programs.</p>
<p>I read the JAVA book we use in class and I even read the AP book but my test scores just go down. It seems the more I read, the worse I do on tests. The first test of the year I got an A. Then a B, then a C, and finally, right before the break, I got my first D.</p>
<p>It's not like I'm not trying hard. I am. I probably work harder than anyone else in my class. But they all seem to have taken some programming class or some sort beforehand. And I don't have any background in programming.</p>
<p>I am so lost in that class. even with all the reading I do. Sometimes, I can do the MC questions, but when it comes down to writing programs from scratch, my mind goes blank.</p>
<p>Do you have a good teacher? I would recommend talking to your teacher. He should be able to help you with your lack of programming experience. Some very trivial problems to experience comp. sci. people are non-trivial to others. </p>
<p>As for specific advice, reading won't help you much with programming. You have to practicing writing actual code. Start with some easy problems from your textbook/AP book and work your way forward. For harder problems, try writing pseudo codes, which outline what you want to do, but aren't actual codes.</p>
<p>Comp. Sci. is very easy if you are able to relate its concepts to real life. For example, if you are learning about "classes," then think of them as blueprints. Classes are instructions on how to create objects, but are not actual objects. Having a good teacher who can relate comp sci to real life is very helpful.</p>
<p>Good luck with your class. If you ever need help, PM me and ill give you my AIM SN ;)</p>
<p>Since you haven't taken any sort of programming class beforehand, I'm guessing that your weak areas are the basics? If you are weak in that area, I suggest playing around with a code that has easier syntax. Maybe Python?</p>
<p>As for learning through the code, I agree with superpig. You can download the java jdk from Sun's site for free. Sun's java site is also very helpful. </p>
<p>I'm self studying AP comp sci AB this year, and Barron's book is great. But then, I've always been a computer person, so getting the book might not help you as much. Still, since you say that you have issues writing the code, I suggest looking at all the case studies in there. Whenever you look at a piece of code, don't just skim over it. Read it and try to understand what the code is doing. </p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>I guess I have a pretty good teacher, everyone says his notes are sufficient to do well on the AP test. But even though I understand his notes, I just can't write the code for the programs. I talked to my teacher about this and he just said to get more practice. Right now we're working on the MBS case study so I don't exactly have the chance to practice.</p>
<p>I got Barron's and it took me about 4 hours just to get through 10 pages of that book. I feel that it's so dense and I have to spend so much time to ponder over every piece of code.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, life. I'm going to start AP Computer Science, too. Let's have a little... contest, shall we say? ;)</p>
<p>Programming is more of a logic\mathematics oriented subject. In programming, it is more important to know the methods, rather than try to memorize and read over every bit of code. You might want to start out with C\C++. Although people don't generally consider it an beginner's language simply because of the effectives, it gives you a very nice feel for what programming is like. If you wanted a souped-up version of C\C++, try Python or Ruby.</p>
<p>Physics B as well? Agh, I'll have to cram up on the APs now...
Chaos is some crazy genius freshman kid. You remind me of this 6th grader that self studied calc (He was helping my junior friend with his calc hmwk. It was crazy). Ugh, if you were a freshman and I were a senior, you would find yourself stuff inside a trashcan lol.
Now you're making me overachieve, heh.</p>
<p>Lydia - What computer language do you plan on starting with? Prior to taking computer science, it is good to have some kind of programming background. Practice in easier languages like Python to get a "feel" for the programming logic. It should come fairly easily from there; the only possible challenge would be adjusting to each new language's syntax.</p>
<p>Uh, I don't think thats possible. In order to get all the information down, it has to be long. I found this on another thread and it might help:</p>
<p>It skims over the topic again, but it just lightly touches on some parts (like recursion). It's good if you want to just review before the exam I suppose.</p>
<p>i dont understasnd how you can cram physcis, people are going nuts after a full year course and u want to cram it's not psychology where you can learn it in 2 days
Seriously!</p>
<p>DirectorsCut: Barron's really is the best out there that I've seen.</p>
<p>lydia423: You really need to practice writing the code as much as possible. :) Also, let me say that the case study (we had the marine biology one, but I think they changed it for this year) went completely over my head. I also managed to get a 5 on the Computer Science AB test.</p>
<p>I don't recommend trying to learn another language at the moment because you only have a few more months until the AP test, and Java is what you should be concentrating on.</p>
<p>Maybe you should go to the bookstore and look for how-to programming books... Try to find one that explains things clearly and has plenty of exercises for you to practice with. :) Or, just ask your teacher for some simple assignments (a program to find the nth number in the Fibonacci sequence, for example).</p>
<p>Good luck! Let me know if there's any way I can help you. :)</p>
<p>i saw some questions on the ap central website for computer science.... and so i'm just wondering.. does computer science have a lot to do with computers?? if so what? because all i saw was problem solving questions..</p>