<p>Hi. I am a very confused computer science major. This is what happened to me. I used to be a bio major, but I decided that I did not want to go to med school anymore and didnt actually enjoy biology at all. So I took the introductory computer science course at another college closer to home during this past summer and enjoyed it. So I changed my major to computer science in the beginning of this past fall semester. </p>
<p>I transferred the credit I received from that summer class and went straight into the second course, "Data Structures" this semester. Holy ****. The summer class did not prepare me at all for this class. I couldn't do any of the labs/projects that were assigned. I used my friend as a crutch the entire way through this semester. I couldn't code anything or make sense of what was going on. </p>
<p>The summer class barely taught me anything. I never wrote a method before coming into this class. Never wrote a program with multiple classes. Hell, I didn't even do arrays or anything that dealt with polymorphism. I should have taken the first course over again in my college instead of using the credit I got from the summer class at the other college.</p>
<p>I am just worried though. Because I am scared that I may actually be terrible at programming. I feel like I should have at least known how to do program some of my projects at least a little bit. I didn't know ****. My advisor gave me all of the assignments/projects in the first comp sci course so I will do those and do all of the projects in the course im currently in over the summer. Hopefully I understand the material after doing this. </p>
<p>Do you think I just sucked in this class because I was not prepared at all for it? What do you think? If you are a comp sci major, did you have a rough time in the beginning?</p>
<p>It sounds like you were completely unprepared for the class. Clearly the course you took at the other college wasn’t very in depth. I’d see how the assignments go over the summer and go from there.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t have been let into that class without more than an intro programming course. Take the college’s own prereq and don’t give up.</p>
<p>You went from an Intro to Comp Sci to Data Structures? That course is usually taken after about a semester of non-introductory courses. I would check to see if there were pre-reqs to that course, take those, figure it out if its for you, and then retake Data Structures.</p>
<p>Different students find computer science more intuitive than others. Don’t get discouraged at this stage in the game.</p>
<p>I agree with the earlier postings. You should have never been allowed in that course to begin with. I do not know which school(s) you were attending, but let me give you a breakdown of the CS major (in general).</p>
<p>Introductory Programming I (pre-req: Pre-Calculus)
Introductory Programming II (pre-req: Calculus I)
Discrete Structures (pre-req: Calculus I)
Computer Organization (pre-req: Programming II & Discrete Structures)</p>
<p>Algorithms
Data Structures</p>
<p>Depending on the school these may be separate courses or combined into one course because they are VERY related. EITHER way, the pre-req for either of them at a vast majority of schools will be: Programming II and Discrete Structures. That means on a semester basis, that is a WHOLE academic year of programming PLUS at least a semester in Discrete Mathematical Structures in order to take a Data Structures course.</p>
<p>In Discrete Mathematical Structures, you learn about the boolean algebra, truth tables, logic, etc and more than likely, your Data Structures professor ASSUMES that you know this stuff (with the introductory programming) COLD.</p>
<p>Then the rest of the CS major…</p>
<p>Organization of Programming Languages
Operating Systems
…Plus required CS electives and free CS electives</p>
<p>And since your first programming class didn’t even cover arrays (?!) it’s amazing you were put into data structures.</p>
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<p>Some schools do go straight from the introductory CS course (for CS majors) to data structures. But their introductory CS courses may be substantially more rigorous than those at schools where it may take more than one semester of course work before one takes the data structures course (or where the data structures course material is spread over more than one course).</p>
<p>Due to the variations between different schools in how their frosh/soph CS courses are organized, it is often the case that frosh/soph CS courses at one school do not align well with those at another school in terms of what is covered in which course. So it is generally best to take the entire set of frosh/soph CS courses at the same school to avoid problems like what the OP has encountered.</p>
<p>@jkidd - Obviously you didn’t have the right preparation. As others have suggested, take the appropriate prerequisites for the data structures course. I suspect you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>As a former software developer for both, an aerospace and games company, I can tell you that you’ll know soon enough whether you’re cut out for the field. “That” first programming class will give you a major clue.</p>
<p>But be honest with yourself at that time. In the real world, there are no crutches (ie. friends to carry you). Everybody is too busy with their own tasks.</p>
<p>BTW, when I worked for Boeing years ago, the manager told us during new hire orientation that they would know soon enough who was not cut out for the job. And he was right.</p>
<p>Good luck. Again, I think you’ll be fine. The best advice I can give you is to be as self-reliant as possible. Believe me, a self-reliant person has a huge edge over those that need to ask others for help a lot of the time. It may not show up on your grades, but when you get out into the workforce, you will do much better if you’ve developed the mindset to figure things out on your own. The beauty of the internet is that you have ALL the information you’ll ever need for EVERYTHING.</p>
<p>To beat a dead horse, you weren’t ready for that course. HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!</p>
<p>Cuz it rhymes…</p>