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Beside learning computer science in class what other resources I can use?
I choose to major in computer science in college but I only a senior in high school right now. What can I do to get me ready #computer-science #computer
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Dan Wolf
Retired Electrical/Software Engineer and part-time College Professor (BSEET and MS Engineering Management)
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Dan’s Answer
1) Keep working on your math classes as they help teach logical thinking which is a key requirement for computer programming.
2) You can do a Google search for "free computer language courses online" or "free computer coding courses online". Visual Basic, C, or Java are three languages that would be good to learn. Microsoft offers free versions of Visual Basic and C which you can download and install. Java is also a free download. These tutorials are not all suitable for a specific knowledge level so feel free to try a different one that may be easier to understand.
3.a) If you want to try the Computer Engineering field, you can do a Google search for "arduino tutorial". The Arduino is a small inexpensive computer that you can program (using the C language) to control lights, motors, and sensors (think "control things"). Arduino boards cost about $5 from www.aliexpress.com or about $23 from USA websites. For an extra $15-$25, you can purchase a kit which includes LEDs, switches, wires, and a few sensors. I mention the Arduino because it is quite a lot of fun to control physical things and there is a huge amount of projects that you can read about (Google search for "Arduino projects").
3.b) The Raspberry PI is similar to the Arduino except that it is more of a general purpose computer than the Arduino (which is optimized to control things). The Raspberry PI will cost about $20 to $200, depending on which version and how many cables and adapter that you may already have. Again, do a Google search for "Raspberry PI projects" and you will things involving speech recognition, Media Center, Object Detection via a camera, and Video Doorbell. I think you will be amazed at the number of different projects for the Raspberry PI and Arduino!
4) Many community colleges accept part-time High School students so you could take an actual college-level computer programming class and earn college credits.
5) Try a Google search (or a question on CareerVillage) for "What does a career in computer science look like" and "computer science vs computer engineering".
Note that your first computer language will be the one that exposes you to a large amount of new concepts. Your second and third computer language will go quicker as many concepts will be similar. And yes, I will predict that you will be learning more than one computer language.
2) You can do a Google search for "free computer language courses online" or "free computer coding courses online". Visual Basic, C, or Java are three languages that would be good to learn. Microsoft offers free versions of Visual Basic and C which you can download and install. Java is also a free download. These tutorials are not all suitable for a specific knowledge level so feel free to try a different one that may be easier to understand.
3.a) If you want to try the Computer Engineering field, you can do a Google search for "arduino tutorial". The Arduino is a small inexpensive computer that you can program (using the C language) to control lights, motors, and sensors (think "control things"). Arduino boards cost about $5 from www.aliexpress.com or about $23 from USA websites. For an extra $15-$25, you can purchase a kit which includes LEDs, switches, wires, and a few sensors. I mention the Arduino because it is quite a lot of fun to control physical things and there is a huge amount of projects that you can read about (Google search for "Arduino projects").
3.b) The Raspberry PI is similar to the Arduino except that it is more of a general purpose computer than the Arduino (which is optimized to control things). The Raspberry PI will cost about $20 to $200, depending on which version and how many cables and adapter that you may already have. Again, do a Google search for "Raspberry PI projects" and you will things involving speech recognition, Media Center, Object Detection via a camera, and Video Doorbell. I think you will be amazed at the number of different projects for the Raspberry PI and Arduino!
4) Many community colleges accept part-time High School students so you could take an actual college-level computer programming class and earn college credits.
5) Try a Google search (or a question on CareerVillage) for "What does a career in computer science look like" and "computer science vs computer engineering".
Note that your first computer language will be the one that exposes you to a large amount of new concepts. Your second and third computer language will go quicker as many concepts will be similar. And yes, I will predict that you will be learning more than one computer language.
Updated
Raymond’s Answer
YouTube and Google. There are also free study guides and online courses from major colleges like Yale and MIT. They would probably be your best bet. If you do the YouTube searches make sure you check a few of them out before you watch everything they have. There's more "masters" that just spit out garbage than you can count. But, if you watch the comments you can usually tell if they're legitimate because they'll get called out a lot if they're wrong. I would definitely give the MIT website a shot. I believe it was called MIT Courseware.
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David’s Answer
In addition to the previous answers, I would add the following. Look for Open source projects that you have interest in. There is no better way of learning than doing. You may choose to even begin your own project and you can then find others with interest who may then guide and assist. The idea is to put your passion into action.