how "hard" is programming fundamentals and how do i prepare for it?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

i need to take just one programming fundamentals class for my major (chemical engineering) and i’m just very scared of it from what i hear about it from certain people. i’ve tried searching online but i’m still very confused as to what programming/coding is. i may be way oversimplifying by saying this but does it basically involve sitting down in front of your computer typing and understanding a bunch of complicated “codes”? (although i still don’t know what a code even is)

i’ve heard you must be good at logic, but how does logic come into play when programming, and what other skills do i need to prepare for the class? really good memorization perhaps?

i still have to take it next semester so im kind just freaking myself out too much and too early right now but i do want to be ready. any tips? i kind of want to self-learn or at least get a head start over the break. thank you

2

There is no way for any of us random blokes on the internet to tell you how hard the programming fundamentals course at your school happens to be.

All we can say is that it is about programming your computer to accomplish a task. This often involves math (which is also often the purpose of a program in engineering) and logic (your program needs to know how to react to certain inputs).

The bottom line, though, is that it is a required courses, so there’s no use hand-wringing over it. Suck it up and get it done.

3

Find out what language they teach. Look for an intro book or free online course in it. Work on it over winter break to get a feel for it. That is probably the best way to prep.

4

Chemistry is done step by step. Coding is done step by step. Download the app grasshopper for a basic understanding of coding. Also Microsoft has great videos that are step by step on just about anything. I wanted to learn the basics of Unity since my kids into augmented reality. I never really coded. But was familiar with Advanced scripting. I was able to follow the logic. This was like a 15 minute video. As suggested find out what you will be learning and do some free videos to get the understanding. There are Java ones that you make a happy face and takes about 10 minutes… But the key is to understand the logic being it. If you can do chemistry… You can learn the basics of coding.

https://www.thetechedvocate.org/17-best-coding-apps-middle-high-school-students/

Code academy is suppose to be very good. But any of these will show you some logic to understand.

5

“Programming” involves teaching a computer how to solve problems for you.

Before you can teach a computer how to solve a particular problem, you need to be able to solve it yourself - this is where the “logic” comes in.

Teaching a computer how to solve problems is one of the best ways for people to improve their own general problem solving skills.

But, before you can teach a computer how to solve problems, the two of you are going to need to be able to communicate.

Computers can’t speak our language, so if you want a computer to help you solve problems, you are going to have to learn a language that the computer understands. Using one of the languages that a computer understands to solve a problem is sometimes referred to as “coding”. This term dates back to the time when one had to program computers using “machine code”. Thanks to Grace Hopper, we now program computers in “high level”
languages, which are much closer to English. The computer actually translates these high level languages into its own native language (i.e. machine code) using a program called a “compiler”. CS majors, computer engineers, and electrical engineers will take a course where they write programs in machine code (to better understand how the underlying computer hardware works), but you will not have to learn machine code.

There are a number of different “high level” languages that computers understand. Just like human languages, some are easier to learn than others. Some are better for solving certain types of problems than others. Some were designed for industrial use, while others were optimized for teaching introductory programming. Your school chose one particular language for their introductory programming class. It would be good to find out what language they chose if you want to get an early start.

Computers are extremely literal and precise. This is both their strength and their weakness. When it comes to languages, they are obsessed with correct grammar and syntax.

As a result, learning to communicate with computers takes both practice and patience - but once you develop a good relationship, you will be rewarded with a companion that is willing to work on your problems tirelessly, night and day, with no complaints.

Good Luck!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

6

@kas1125 here are my suggestions:

  1. Read the course description and see what the class is going to be about.
  2. Ask someone you know who took the class already for the syllabus and course materials like homework, graded exams so you can study from it. This give you informations on what to expect from the course and what you need to study for beforehand. Usually professors don't give out the syllabus to the course before it starts. When I ask the professor for the syllabus before the course starts, usually a couple of week before, I never get a reply.
  3. Find out what text you need for the course then start studying it. The school I go to aways don't have the book I need for the course beforehand. They don't care, too. It is a business after all the bookstore is looking to save themselves money. So go to ebay to get the book.
  4. Ask someone you know who has already taken the course for feedback and find what the class is like.
  5. Check to see if there are tutors for that course. Hope it does. The school I attended they never tend to have tutors for the engineering and computer science courses. This frustrates me! You don't get help when you need it.
  6. Try going to the professor's office hours if you don't understand the material. Some professors might ask you to make appointments through email which I find that being sarcastic.

If you know that you are not doing well in the class, drop it. If the professor is not giving you enough information on your performance in the class three days before the drop date, drop it. The professor might encourage you not to drop the class but if you fail it, it is on you. They won’t be responsible! So I would never listen to the professor’s encouragement on whether or not to withdraw from a class. Most of the time they end up being wrong anyways and the student fails the class. I rather see you drop the class than fail it.

7

It sounds like a programming class for a non-computer major. You’re most likely not going to get into hardcore coding specifics like C# or Java. That’s overkill. They’ll probably have you learn a statistical program like SAS and have you build some basic applications from it. It’ll be pretty much drag and drop and the book will tell you how to do it step-by-step. That’s all it is. Computers is all practice by doing. All you have to worry about is getting good at the software they give you.

8

I’m not sure how hard it is going to be, but for me, I found what programming language we would be using and practiced. You can use codacademy, grasshopper, or whatever! But having even just a little knowledge helped me get a good start ahead of the class. Programming also builds on what you covered earlier in class so having a strong start will really help. Good luck!!!