Does the first computer science course (CS 46A) assume any background in computing?
Officially, no. However, a number of students in the past have attempted to take the course without any experience with text editors, manipulating files, or running commercial software. Many of these students have not succeeded. The laboratory associated with CS 46A covers a lot of material that’s useful for a programmer to know, although not really part of programming. The lab exercises for this course are available through the department web site. You might consider attempting those of the exercises that do not involve programming if you want to get a head start in the course. If you don’t have some computer experience of the sort suggested at the beginning of this answer, you might consider taking CS 40 (Introduction to Computers), or a course with a similar title at a community college. At many schools, an appropriate course is the prerequisite course to the CS 46A equivalent. Be aware that CS 40 and similar courses will not count toward the BSCS degree.
Officially, no. However, a number of students in the past have attempted to take the course without any experience with text editors, manipulating files, or running commercial software. Many of these students have not succeeded. The laboratory associated with CS 46A covers a lot of material that’s useful for a programmer to know, although not really part of programming. The lab exercises for this course are available through the department web site. You might consider attempting those of the exercises that do not involve programming if you want to get a head start in the course. If you don’t have some computer experience of the sort suggested at the beginning of this answer, you might consider first taking CS 40 (Introduction to Computers). However this course will not count toward the BSCS degree. Another possibility is to take a course similar to CS 40 at a community college. At many schools, an appropriate course is the prerequisite course to the CS 46A equivalent. Such a course, ho
