<p>Is it suicide to go into college EE without having C++ or other programming experience? My HS does not offer computer programming - says they can't find anyone to teach it. How much will this hurt in college not to have it? Should I take it at Community College on top of High School workkload? Thankyou for any suggestions.</p>
<p>It is easy to self-learn from a book or the internet, if you have the time.</p>
<p>No way. I didn't take a single programming course in high school. Had no problems in college. However, there were kids in my classes that skipped out on some topics because they already knew it. If anything, for EE i'd encourage you to take some kind of intro to circuit analysis class if you really want. The only dedicated programming classes that I had to take were Java, C, and a pseudo code class. Eventually you'll have to do some VHDL or verilog programming in your EE labs but this is nothing compared to the programming classes. I say pick up a good programming book if you're worried about it and learn the concepts. Your first programming class is going to teach you how to program. They don't assume you're already a programmer.</p>
<p>Nah, you would be fine. Most of the introductory classes will teach you programming, so don't worry.</p>
<p>buy a good book and get a compiler from someone. you don't need to be an expert, just get familiar with how the language works and (more importantly) how to solve programming problems.</p>
<p>where i go the intro C++ course is much easier if you have experience, though even then it's time-consuming.</p>
<p>There were about 3 types of people in my intro programming class, which all the engineering majors have to take:</p>
<p>1)Those who hadn't heard the terms boolean or Java before, maybe they had used HTML once for a myspace page. They were the kids who didn't know anything coming in. As long as you aren't bad at math, then I would say the ability to follow the same sort of logic presented in math will help you catch on pretty quick, even if you are in this category.</p>
<p>2)Those who had heard of Java and had tried to learn it or another previously. I was sort of here. I still had to invest a lot of time, it's one of the most time consuming classes I have taken, but I wouldn't say it was hard. Just understanding basics of variables, constants, filetypes, the difference between a string, integer, double, or boolean was a large weight off of my shoulders, since I was able to go in knowing something and I wasn't completely lost. And when I say understand, I just mean know what they are. integer = 1, 2, 3... double = 3.14, 6.2... etc.</p>
<p>3)The kids who have programmed before, in a class or actually stuck it out and taught themselves. The ones who were in this category that didn't test out of the class still took time to do all of it, but I think they just enjoyed it more as an easier/fun course. Since they already had a good basis they spent less time frustrated with the problems I was and spent more time experimenting or trying new things.</p>
<p>It wouldn't hurt to glance at some intro to programming material, but you will not be in trouble if you don't, assuming you're willing to spend time working. That's the thing that got the most people in trouble, they didn't bother to take the time to learn/understand/do it. I guess you'll find that all through highschool and college though.</p>
<p>It depends on the class and your professor/lab instructor. Lecture is going to be...a lecture; largely inane, sometimes coherent. The lab instructor might not speak English, or might not feel like "holding your hand". They might just explain some broad concepts randomly and expect you to apply them and, more importantly, actually know the names of the commands you must use in a specific programming language, even if they aren't in the lecture or assigned reading. If a book that actually teaches you programming isn't required reading, make sure you pick one up for yourself...... If your class size is small and your school has a good reputation, you should be fine. If there's over 100 people in your class and your tuition for a year costs less than a Yaris, then the name of the game is PREPARATION. If the latter is the case, then the purpose of the class will be TESTING and WEEDING OUT, not learning.</p>
<p>How about just JAVA?</p>
<p>My first programming class was terrible. I had no prior programming experience and it was a C++ class. The point of the class wasn't to teach you how to program, it was to do everything possible to make you fail. I didn't find the programming all that hard, sometimes tedious, but the instructor made it hard. Things like not getting your grades back for over a month. Testing on absurd exceptions. Typos and errors on the test that they would not correct. It was absolutely ridiculous. At least 50% of the class dropped. I dropped because I thought I had failed the second exam. We didn't get our grades back until after the drop period, so I went the safe route and just dropped it. I get my second exam grade back and it was an 85%, so really I dropped the class for no reason...</p>
<p>But now I'm in a VB.Net class and the instructors do everything possible to help you through it. That's my programming story.</p>
<p>It really just depends on the person. Some of my friends did fine with C++ and C in college without any experience, some of them struggled. It all really depends how easily you can grasp the concepts. Some books on Logic might help, or just an introductory book to C++ to skim over even if you don't understand it all.</p>
<p>You'll be fine. Most likely your college will make you take an introductory C++ course in first year and trust me they are heaps of fun (Not really) But, it's pretty cool. With programming, if you remember the computer is dumber than you and if you go through things step by step make process maps (yes, those nasty things)..you'll grasp it a lot better regardless of whether you took it before or not,</p>
<p>Thankyou everybody for your help. I am sure all of us engineer wannabes are also greatful. I will look on-line for a course to take this summer or book if need be.</p>