Taking Intro to Java

[DrMacintosh]

Hello, I'm going to Community College as a CS Major and my first real programming class is Intro to Java. This is the syllabus:

 

Student Learning Outcomes: ILOs 1. iSLO 4. Information competency skills - Determine the scope of information needs; locate and retrieve relevant information; organize, analyze, and evaluate information; and understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding information and information technology. 2. iSLO 5. Quantitative skills - Convert information into relevant symbolic and mathematical forms (e.g. equations, graphs, diagrams, tables), provide accurate explanations of information presented in mathematical forms, and successfully perform calculations and symbolic operations. Course Outcomes 1. Given a set of requirements for a small business or scientific problem, prepare the software development specification. 2. Design the software components and draw flow-charts for the complex code sections. 3. Design, implement, test, and debug a program that uses each of the following fundamental programming constructs: basic computation, simple I/O, standard conditional and iterative structures, and the definition of functions. 4. Apply the techniques of structured (functional) decomposition to break a program into smaller pieces. 5. Describe and utilize the mechanics of parameter passing. 6. Design a simple user interface to satisfy the user interactions. 7. Code all the necessary expressions, branches, loops, functions, classes. 8. Add the appropriate error handling routines.  

 

How difficult would this be for someone with limited coding experience? Math and problem solving skills are not a problem for me. 

[Enderman]

You you're going into CS then you really don't have an option do you?

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Enderman said:

You you're going into CS then you really don't have an option do you?

My Major isn't set in stone. I'm just looking to get a rough estimate on my workload. Its an Intro class, so it can't be too deep, but then again, I've never taken a Java class before. Lol! 

[wasab]

Watch this tutorial series or you will struggle quite a bit. College intro Java is just a coding boot camp. There is no skills on there which can't be self taught by watching a YouTube programming series. 

 

[Enderman]

16 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

My Major isn't set in stone. I'm just looking to get a rough estimate on my workload. Its an Intro class, so it can't be too deep, but then again, I've never taken a Java class before. Lol! 

Java is really easy if you've done C or C++ before.

[Guest]

If java on codecademy is still free, binge through it. Knowing the api/syntax and how that language works will make the class much easier.

 

The logic is the difficult part. Syntax is the confusing hurdle & it really really pays to know the basics & some tricks. Without the syntax knowledge, the logic will be much harder. 

 

I have a really intelligent friend majoring in physics. He couldn’t stand java because we had a bad teacher & java can be a bit confusing without a good foundation. He’s taking python which is arguably easier in terms of syntax & now loves it. 

[nicebyte]

How limited are we talking? In my opinion, there's a big difference between "no experience whatsoever" and something like "wrote some lua script for WoW one time", for example. It's always intimidating to start from zero.

 

That being said, the course looks like it aims to get students over the basic hurdles of getting a dev environment set up and writing and running simple programs. Most of these things will be straightforward and won't require a lot of thinking; the course will just slowly ease you into the programmer mindset. Of course, a lot depends on the instructor as well, but I think you'll be fine even if you've never programmed before.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, nicebyte said:

That being said, the course looks like it aims to get students over the basic hurdles of getting a dev environment set up and writing and running simple programs. Most of these things will be straightforward and won't require a lot of thinking; the course will just slowly ease you into the programmer mindset. Of course, a lot depends on the instructor as well, but I think you'll be fine even if you've never programmed before.

That is was I figured. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when class starts  

[JohnAbrams]

You should check out Harvard's CS50 videos on Youtube. There's a fresh 2018 playlist now up: