Question

Just got stated in here. Any advice? help? :)

Answer 1

Ehm...what would you like advise on? :)

Answer 2

Tips? Anything useful :)

Answer 3

On computer science? On the OpenStudy website?

Answer 4

Both will be better

Answer 5

My advice for starters would be to play a lot with the interpreter to get a feel for Python.

Answer 6

Who are the interpreter? Btw, what's python? ^_^

Answer 7

In short, Python is the programming language used mainly in this course. The interpreter is the environment in which you can execute small bits of code, as dust7 suggested its a nice way to get familiar with the concepts. Have you ever done any programming?

Answer 8

Nah, i don't have any ideas about it. Im still in the Introduction. Just getting started.

Answer 9

Ok, have you read any of the material? Or would you like to dive into programming right away? If that's the case, a good idea would be to install the interpreter and python, there are probably instructions on the course website.

Answer 10

At the software section.

Answer 11

I still have to master the basic. Will that installation be useful for me right now?

Answer 12

Hmm...well the best would be to just start with the introduction classes, and then use python when the it is mentioned. It's probably needed for exercises and for you to try things mentioned during the classes.

Answer 13

So, in what part are you now in computer science?

Answer 14

I'm not following the course, but following the openstudy Computer Science section, I am programming in python right now though :)

Answer 15

When they wrote the course, an older version of Python 2 was used. The latest 2, 2.7.2, is fine. If you use 3.3.2, you will have a lot of changes to the commands you will need to make.

Pasting code on here with copy and paste makes stuff people can not copy and try. You need to do one of a few things. The best solution is a code pasting service like:
http://dpaste.com/
http://pastebin.com/
https://gist.github.com/

I really like dpaste for short term stuff like a quick question because it is easy to use. Down side is that things go by-by after a week or 30 days if you check the hold box. Pastebin and gist are better if you want to save something long term.

Another way is to use \(\text{```}\) (the accent mark that shares the tilde key) above and below a block of code. This does some limited code highlighting and keeps the formatting for copy and paste back. The down side that messages with really long chinks of code in them tend to get hard to read, so I would save this method for short things, like just a single function. This being about the longest I would paste here:

```
# sorting.py
# Example solution for Lab 5, problem 1
#
# Aseem Kishore
#
# 6.189 - Intro to Python
# IAP 2008 - Class 4


L = []

for i in range(10):
a = int(raw_input("Please enter a number. "))
# DON'T do this: L[i] = a
L.append(a)


def find_largest(L):

maximum = 0
index = 0

for i in range(len(L)):
if L[i] > maximum:
maximum = L[i]
index = i

del L[index]
return maximum


# this is fine: while len(L) > 0:
for i in range(10):
print find_largest(L),
```

Finally, realize that MIT's 6.00 is not really a programming class. They whiz past lots of the basics you need to get from the book. The free one they have used, Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist ( http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ ) is one good way to get the basics of Python so the class lectures make sense. Another good one is Python for Informatics: Exploring Information ( http://www.py4inf.com/ ), which is a combination book and set of videos that is free, by a professor who has written certain standards of computer science, and very well done.

The MIT 6.00 class has the main goal of taking someone that know the basics of programming and helping to modify their way of thinking so they are able to tackle computer science problems.

Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

Answer 16

Well, the course claims that zero prior programming experience is necessary. In principle this is true, but the people I have started this course with who have zero experience are having quite a hard time. For a gentle, more slow paced introduction to programming I always recommend Bradley Kjell's Java tutorial - it is free and has a lot of exercises. While Java is not Python, it really does not matter what language you start with to learn the basic principles most languages share. Here's the link: http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html After completing all the chapters (GUIs and Applets can be skipped) anybody should be more than ready to take on 6.00.

Answer 17

Try visual basic. You get the basic feel for programming applications, and will help alot if you want to learn C++ later on.

Answer 18

@NathanB why would VB help specifically with C++? It helps with C# a lot more than it does with C++ from my experience.

Answer 19

I have no prior programming experience. Although challenging, I've managed to get along pretty well so far (on Lecture 6 atm). My suggestion would be to always read the suggested readings under "Further Study". The extra time it takes is well worth it! Makes the problem sets that much easier to get through.