Question

How should I go about this...

Answer 1

I was wondering how much trouble everyone else was having with this course and whether or not I'll be able to complete it. I have some experience programming in BASIC, which I taught myself how to do (so I may have used bad methods), but I am already have trouble with this course and I'm only on assignment 1. I basically understand the general "idea" of how to program, but I don't fully understand how to carry through on it and I keep getting stuck in places that I feel should be easy. I'm only 16 years old and, while I've been cruising though high school easily with high honors, so far the most recent math class I have completed was Honors Algebra 2 (for the most part, all the math classes up to it were also algebra). Because if this, I'm not sure if I understand math well enough to keep up with this course. So basically, I was wondering how everyone else is doing with this course. The first lectures did great for me and I'm learning how to look at programming differently, but assignment 1 has so far stumped me and I'm not going on with the lectures until I finish it (I'm trying to treat this like the real class). So, has everyone else been going through this easily or running into the same problems as me? Do you think it will be easier to understand if I come back to the assignment later after watching more lectures, should I take some kind of tutorial to learn more about the "language" of python so I can control it better, or do you think I should look for an easier course? Thanks a lot.

Answer 2

I just finished Pre-Algebra. You'll be fine.
You can go to the Python book in wikibooks
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Python_Programming

Answer 3

The readings really help if you take the time to do them.

Answer 4

do you mean assignement 1 as in the write your name problem or the prime number problem? Sometimes the assignments are not exactly aligned with the lectures, and there is information in the next lecture that will help.

When you are struggling, post your question, and the code using dpaste.com. People will walk you through when you are genuine.

I am really bad at maths, having not looked anything but addition and subtraction in the last 10 years. I am using Khan Academy to increase my skills along with studying cs here. The maths section of this website is amazing, and there is always a lot of people on. (Here, it is quiet sometimes and you have to wait a bit.)

I don't know what you skill is enough to say whether it is enough or not, but if it is not, check Khan Academy.

Answer 5

I am 17 too..and the course if fun for me right now.
i am lecture 3 and really enjoying it..
here in india the maths is really heavy and by 16-17 you have to be into calculus and leaner differential eqn , complex numbers , 3d geometry, vectors to get a good grade in high school and get admission to a good college..
so it is quite a burden :(...trying my best though

Answer 6

You can do it, you just need to get your head to start thinking like a computer, I'd take the above advice and watch one or two more lectures if you're really really stuck, make sure you understand concepts instead of just memorising things, I've been messing around with BASIC, C++ and Actionscript since i was 15 and I'm not particularly great at maths. the beauty of computers is that most of the time you don't need to be!

Break the problem down into steps that make sense to you, then implement them in code-form one by one. always works.

Answer 7

edit : i am at lecture 3*
linear differential equation*