Hey CC, a little over a year ago I decided to do a major career change. I’m currently doing something in communications & media studies/business field and pretty satisfied with this path because I want to work in marketing or public relations(hopefully for tech companies), but alumni suggested that I have some comp sci skills to back me up, like HTML, CSS, and Python. I have more experience in physical sciences like chemistry/bio and I need to spruce up math skills(idk if this helps). I don’t have any experience in CS but I am planning to sign up for an intro class. I’m genuinely interested in CS, what do you guys suggest to anyone has no experience in this field, what math level do you think I need, where should I start before I take the class, what should I just do in general?
Why potentially mess up your CCC GPA with computer science classes? I was in media studies at Cal. If you want CS do it in summer after you’re accepted is my suggestion. GPA is king.
@Ohm888 I’m already a Cal student and GPA is king if you plan to do grad school, which I’m definitely considering, but for professional work, it was just a good suggestion that I learned HTML and CSS. I met a Google employee who graduated from Berkeley as an ISF major and she said she just learned a few programming languages which helped her on the way.
If you are at UCB, then you can take CS 10, a general introduction to CS for non-majors and those who have no prior experience. Or study it on your own unofficially at http://cs10.org .
The CS courses for prospective CS majors start with CS 61A, 61B, 61C, 70. If you want to study them on your own instead of taking the actual courses, you look at their course home pages from https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/classes-eecs.html .
@ucbalumnus Thank you. I mean I don’t exactly want to make a rash decision to try to switch to CS, I just thought some CS knowledge would help after graduation. Thanks again
The 2 classes that will help you with basic skills are CS 10 and Data 8 (CS C8). If you are a beginner, you will definitely learn a lot in those 2 classes. If you wanted C++ programming, CS 9F is also good, but personally I would take that class at a community college where it would be much cheaper.
CS88 is a connector course for amalgamating CS with Data Science. I would say that CS 10 is pretty much for absolute beginners into CS; Data 8 is for near beginners, and CS 88 is a next step from Data 8. (CS61A is the first required lower division class for computer science majors, but it is relatively speaking a very difficult class - I wouldn’t take that class until you have a solid programming skills background.) So by that transitive logic, yes, CS 10 would be easier than CS 88. In fact I doubt if you could take a CS 88 course without having taken Data 8 first.
I’m not sure who is eligible to sign up for these workshops, but CodeBase just had a seminar yesterday on Web Development in the workplace. CodeBase.berkeley.edu.
I agree with @ProfessorPlum168 If you want to learn how to code and do something useful like web development, just take an online or a community college course. I think CS10 or Data 8 might be quite challenging for those majoring in humanities/communication sciences. And CS61A can be quite challenging for those who have been programming for years, so ignore the “introduction” in the description of the course Even for people who are CS majors (declared), it’s not uncommon to hear that either CS61A or CS61B made them question their ability to pursue a degree in the field. It seriously takes some major brass balls to take cs61a when you don’t need to fulfill a major requirement, so kudos to you if you’re one of those rare enlightened ones!
But. If OP wants to put HTMLor CSS on hs resume, would a class bring that skill level fast enough? Is there any advantage to self study first, then take a course that hones understanding?
^^ I think it depends on the course and how it’s taught. At my community college the web development class was taught by someone with a masters degree from Stanford and it was really useful. Moreover, the ratio instructor/student was great because, on average, only 30 people took the class, so it was definitely a great value for the money. There are several options online (self-paced courses), but for those who prefer to attend classes and talk to the instructor/classmates, I’d suggest them to look for these type of courses.
You don’t need to torture yourself with all that math to get a job in computers. In fact, your media/communications background could transition very well in an Information Technology degree. Most programming doesn’t require math at all. It’s about learning specific languages and/or software platforms to do specific things. A business background is actually a very sought after skill in the corporate world.
Even for people who are CS majors (declared), it’s not uncommon to hear that either CS61A or CS61B made them question their ability to pursue a degree in the field. It seriously takes some major brass balls to take cs61a when you don’t need to fulfill a major requirement, so kudos to you if you’re one of those rare enlightened ones!