Computer Science in college

[arinlares]

I was wondering about the requirements to take computer programming in a college course. I know there's tuition, etc, but do you need to know a programming language before enrolling in a college programming class? Would it help? any answer would help.

[aluminumspleen]

Hey arinlares,
I'm in college right now, taking computer science. Do you mean take it as a course in addition to other courses you are taking there, or just as one course for fun, or what? I know when I started, I didn't know squat about programming, but my school started us at the basic level. I think most schools should have this beginner level where no experience is required. On the other hand, any experience certainly helps, I'm sure, regardless of where the course starts. Hope I could be of help!

[Roxoff]

I'm pretty sure this depends on the level of course you're booking. If you go on an advanced course with no prior experience, you'll probably struggle. Taking a beginner/intro/basics course first would probably be sensible.

[JeffNetSite]

I think it's better if you know atleast the basics but it's ok if not because you're enrolling to learn from them.

[techieMoe]

I have a degree in Computer Science. My college wouldn't let you take a higher level programming course until you'd taken their intro courses. A general understanding of one or more languages is certainly a plus. You'll likely run into one or two professors who make no sense at all, and if you already have a solid programming background this will help you decipher what to do in those classes. Most modern programming languages share the same basic structures, just have different syntax.

[devolve]

The coursework for Stanford and MIT is available online.
Stanford School of Engineering
Free Online MIT Course Materials | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | MIT OpenCourseWare

You could use either of those to teach yourself if you were dedicated enough.
Stanford's intro course focuses on Java, while MIT's focuses on Python.

[arinlares]

well, thanks for the answers! i thought there was one level, and i have no experience beyond HTML. I'm not in college yet, but just wanted to know about when I get there. thanks.

[Cabhan]

I don't know of any college programs that expect you to have programming experience when you arrive. Some have accelerated paths for people who do have prior experience, but this is not universal.

For what it's worth, HTML isn't really a programming language (it's a markup language), so that doesn't necessarily give you a leg up. If you wanted to start learning how to program pre-college, there are many online and dead-tree resources to get you started.