Computer Science HELP!

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am thinking of minoring in CS and have taken an introductory computer science class twice, failing both times. I understood the beginning portion of the course, C programming, but as the course delved into more complex ideas such as pointers, arrays, loops etc. I started to get overwhelmed and gave up on the course. In the beginning I did enjoy programming and was having a good time writing codes, but after I gave up on the course I was not able to write codes due to the fact that I didn't pay attention to my professor and didn't bother reading the book. I will be retaking the course again since I do not want an F/D on my transcript, but was wondering if any programmers could give me some ideas on what the best approach would be to learning a programming language. If there are helpful websites with practice problems/lectures I would also appreciate links to the sites.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>First, I would suggest that you read the book and pay attention to your professor. I found that projects help me understand certain concepts and I’ve followed many video tutorials that teach specific languages that apply those concepts. I would also suggest looking at books and videos that are project-driven because then you can see how those complex ideas are applied and everything seems less abstract.</p>

3

<p>Some introductory CS courses:
<a href=“http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/sp14/”>http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/sp14/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“CS 61A Spring 2014: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs”>http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/sp14/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs017/”>http://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs017/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Some introductory CS books:
<a href=“http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/”>http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.composingprograms.com/”>http://www.composingprograms.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Since I have taken Beginning Java, Beginning C++, Beginning Visual Basic, and Advanced C++ starting last summer and earn A’s for all of them, I maybe of assistance. And I was also hired by my professor to tutor these languages, including Python, Raptor, and JavaScript, which I knew almost nothing about until I became a tutor because I had to tutor them, too. When it comes to learning computer language, you should not have any problem with loops and arrays since they are basic programming structures. Pointers, I can understand. But if you need to get more understanding of loops and arrays, I suggest you should start at the beginning. Start at learning what variables are, the types of variables, then apply them to your loops and arrays. If you need to, learn how to use flowchart so you will understand what loops are. Arrays are only tables, learn to use Microsoft Excel if you have to.</p>