Help on COMP 116 Preparation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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<p>I don't even know basic computer programming. I came back from orientation with COMP 116 as part of my schedule. I'm under the impression that most people taking this class will already know how to do most of what this class teaches. I don't plan on majoring on computer science, but this is a prereq for a major I'm interested in pursuing. I've been looking at a few websites including Stanford's SEE online courses, but I don't know if this is the right approach. </p>

<p>I was told I could teach myself computer programming online for free by other students at orientation. Has anyone had any experience doing this and if so, could you tell me where you did this? Are there any Python or MATLAB specific online classes available or should learning java be enough to prepare me for taking this class?</p>

<p>I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve and will end up doing online coursework sometime later this summer. Thanks in advance for any advice some of you might have.</p>

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<p>COMP 116 is an intro to programming course so you’re not expected to know any programming (though it helps of course). Its the ‘scientific’ equivalent of COMP 110 which teaches Java and Javascript, and most comp sci majors take 110 because most comp classes later use Java.</p>

<p>116 alternates between Python and MATLAB every semester, and if its the Python version of the class then you can expect a number of people in your class to be familiar with the material since Python is pretty newbie friendly. If you’re actually serious about learning Python, I’d recommend this course (its free):</p>

<p>[Learn</a> Python The Hard Way](<a href=“http://learnpythonthehardway.org/]Learn”>http://learnpythonthehardway.org/)</p>

<p>If the course is MATLAB then I can’t really help you there. I don’t know much about matlab. </p>

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<p>If you already know Java then you’ll be able to pick up Python/MATLAB fast enough for 116.</p>

<p>Either way, this is an intro class. You could go in with 0 knowledge of programming and expect to get an A with enough work.</p>

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<p>Thanks for responding. I was expecting this class to be a weeder class for cs majors the same way bio/chem 101 are for premeds. Hearing that just putting enough work in alleviates me in my lack of cs knowledge. I’ll check out the link you provided.</p>

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<p>My brother, who had no programming experience, took COMP 116 last semester and did fine. His class used Matlab, so we’ll probably be using Python.</p>

<p>As someone already mentioned, this is an introductory programming class which assumes that students have no prior experience coding. Most students will be starting from nothing, and yes, there probably be a few people like me who are already very proficient with Python. That being said, Python is a fairly easy language to pick up; the syntax is somewhat similar to English, so there isn’t a huge learning curve for new programmers.</p>

<p>Do check out “Learn Python the Hard Way” and maybe Codecademy’s Python tutorials as well. I think there is a course website from fall 2012 that still has assignments and lectures(?) posted, so you can get a general idea of what the course entails. Oh, and familiarize yourself with numpy and matplotlib, which are numeric and plotting libraries the class will use.</p>