<p>I am a high school senior, i have been accepted to a few schools but i am still waiting to hear from quite a few more schools. I want to go into cs but Im hearing that cs is very very hard and overwhelming major, i still plan to try it but the complaints are starting to frighten me. I like math and i am enjoying calculus i like how it is logical and im never bored in calculus even with a really bad teacher. I recently began learning java on my own and so far so good. i havent gotten too deep yet though, just on the basics still. But i am really enjoying writing code and i like computers and i am science minded. I hate english/history/any humanities. Is CS really that difficult? or are people exaggerating? i feel like im stepping into this with a very naive mind on what the level of difficulty actually is.</p>
<p>Being good at math and programming will help you greatly if you decide to major in CS.</p>
<p>Here is a common introductory CS book that you may want to read and do the examples and exercises from as a preview of the kinds of CS concepts you will learn as a CS major:</p>
<p>[Structure</a> and Interpretation of Computer Programs](<a href=“http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html]Structure”>http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html)</p>
<p>You can use the language interpreter found here to do the examples and exercises:</p>
<p>[Getting</a> Scheme](<a href=“http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/scheme/index.html]Getting”>http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/scheme/index.html)</p>
<p>Thanks alot i’l take a look at the website</p>
<p>How about majoring in math and taking a good chunk of the CS program as an emphasis? You can really just take the software-related CS courses as electives of your math degree and pretty much qualify for almost any software engineering job. Just make sure you take the CS core (algorithms, data structures, theory of programming languages and operating systems) for a good foundation and good admission preparation in case you ever decide to get a graduate degree in CS, CIS or SoftE.</p>
<p>Ive been working through the book, although i cant seem to run my programs with that compiler, i’m definately doing something wrong and im on a mac. Also do you know if there is a link somwhere with the asnwers to the exercises? Thanks!</p>
<p>Try the Scheme interpreters listed here: [Scheme</a> Interpreters](<a href=“http://elvis.rowan.edu/~nlt/interpreters.html]Scheme”>Scheme Interpreters)</p>
<p>If you’re going to study CS, LEARN C! It’s not a requirement, but you will be doing yourself a huge service by learning C first before learning Java, Python, etc if you’re really interested in CS. You don’t have to, of course, but if you can get the K&R book and just learn C this summer, you’ll be so far ahead in class because you’ll be focusing less on programming and more on the actual CS. More importantly, when you get passed the intro classes and into real stuff like systems programming, you’ll be one of the few people that won’t be dumbfounded when the prof starts talking about pointers (unless your intro classes are taught in c, c++ or something like that). Just something to help you get by if you do decide to major in CS</p>
<p>God Speed Grasshopper</p>
<p>It just boggles my mind that the K&R on C programming is still the gold standard. That was the book that I had as a text and that was the late 1980’s.</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>But you probably used the first edition; the second edition using the C89 standard is more common these days. However, there has not been a newer edition using the C99 standard.</p>
<p>Right, C++ has the C++0x standard coming out, and still forms the backbone of most Windows applications. As for a CS major, you have to be quite logical. Give the problems over on ProjectEuler.net a try. I really enjoyed those problems, and that’s what got me into CS with a minor in applied mathematics.</p>