<p>The class 21-127 Concepts of Math that I’m planning to take - my academic advisor says it’s a tough course for many students. Can anyone provide me with details as to what “tough” is? As in, tough because there’s a lot of work to do or tough because it’s hard to understand? Or because of another reason?</p>
<p>The class is tough because it teaches discrete mathematics and most students coming out of high school have not had much exposure to discrete math. Concepts may be difficult when you first learn them but with a bit of work, it shouldn’t be hard to grasp.</p>
<p>Homework does take a fair amount of time and you may need to collaborate with other friends taking the class.</p>
<p>General Rule of Thumb for Maths/Sciences: The easier the class sounds, the harder it is.</p>
<p>With that said, There is a kid that I know that came in with enough credits to begin with C and Unix and Calculus in 3D. He has above a 3.0 GPA in electrical and computer engineering(this is a feat). The teacher for that class told him that he was lazy. He failed that class/ dropped it because he didnt go to most office hours. He was a very bright student, the class is just that hard. If you are taking this class next semester, please take easier classes to supplement this one(like english, electives, etc).</p>
<p>I heard CS majors will wish we were back in “concepts” once we actually get to “great ideas”…which apparently is absolutely the hardest weeder we will endure as CS majors…</p>
<p>so how do these two compare to what we might expect in 211, 212 and 213?</p>
<p>Any news on what the new 122 will be like…?
Many of us will have 122 (replacing c/unix), calc 3d and concepts Plus one more…
(I signed up for chinese today…hope that wasn’t a mistake)</p>
<p>concepts isn’t bad… 15-251 just completely rapes though. Get an A in concepts, work your butt off and hope for a B/A in 251. 211/212/213 are all solid courses with good topics and projects, but nothing that isn’t doable. 211 has chess, 213 has malloc/proxy/hacking 101, 212 you really won’t ever hear anything spoken of but is supposedly also interesting. </p>
<p>I took 15-123, 21-259, and 21-127 +2 more and C&CMU freshmen fall and did fine. It really won’t kill you with work</p>
<p>Concepts is a tough class but really, don’t believe all the rumors about how ungodly hard it is. Work hard, go to office hours, do your homework, ask for help and you’ll be fine. And yes there are certainly harder classes out there. <em>cough</em> 251 <em>cough</em> Although I doubt any of you will be taking it with von Ahn. I believe my class was the last 251 class he taught. </p>
<p>As for 200s, they’re all on the same level of difficulty with each other. 211 is learning and implementing popular/famous algorithms and learning some theory too. Most people I know don’t like 212 but I’m one of the rare ones that actually like functional programming. Everything is recursive and there’s a lot of theory behind it. I think it’s quite elegant. And of course, 213 is all about computer systems and alot of C programming, learning assembly and all that good stuff. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>@Noblerare To be honest, what got me through concepts was in fact, functional programming (Standard ML is great, but I prefer Haskell). It’s such a refreshing way to view programming.</p>
<p>@CMUGUY2014 15-122 is “safe C”, which means you don’t do pointers and dynamic memory for most of the course. All this does is make 213 all the more miserable, since computer systems is a class that relies on pointers and dynamic memory. However, you’re in CMU, you’ll manage somehow ;)</p>
<p>On Topic: Concepts is tough only because it’s an introduction to something High Schools don’t teach you much of, if any. It was hard for me at the beginning until something clicked in my brain (cryptography and functional programming is to blame), then it was smooth sailing from there.</p>
<p>@anselmo</p>
<p>Do you think since I’m planning a double in ECE, I should go ahead and take 123 anyways to be prepared for ECE electives ahead?</p>
<p>What other “changes” are ahead in the CS curriculum…they hinted that we could not sign up for anything because of revisions. What’s the rumor?</p>
<p>Most changes that I think I know about are rumors from sources that I trust (mostly TAs). For instance, word has it that SCS is trying to get rid of java from the curriculum. While I’d applaud it (I think java is a terrible language), I’m also not sure how much of this is true. However, 15-110 is definitely in python, not java.</p>
<p>As for ECE electives, 123 really only gets the prereqs done for 213. If 122 can replace 123, I’m not sure you need to take 123. Everything else requires 18-100 though.</p>
<p>@Anselmo: You learned functional programming before freshman year of college? That’s cool, man. I first learned it in 15-212 and yea, I love functional programming. </p>
<p>I am still confused / in the dark about the changes to the CS curriculum. I don’t even know what’s going on anymore so I’m just focusing on my upper level classes now instead of worrying about the changes to the introductory classes.</p>
<p>Well it’s really strange…half the class or probably more will not even take 110/121 with python moving straight to 122 (the new “C”) given our AP scores…
So what happens when we all get to 211, 212-- we program in Java or Python-?
Do you think the pointer-less C will get us ready for 213?</p>
<p>123 is a pre-req for all the robotics and ECE electives I’m interested in…worth checking with CIT advisor…or trust Jacobo for now?
(I took 18100 in pre college-- so plannign to take ECE electives this spring)</p>
<p>Concepts was so easy when I took it. Mihai was awesomely easy, lol. I lucked out.</p>
<p>talk to jacobo, but there should be no reason why 122/213 wouldn’t cover any classes with 123 as a prereq. IDK if 122 will do shell/perl scripting, but that is really the ONLY thing i can think of that is used in 123 but not 213</p>
<p>Jacobo’s website documents for freshman advising aren’t that welcoming…he has a bunch of borderline rude paragraphs about not asking questions about a double major or minor-- and sticking to the focus on being an SCS student. I guess I understand his perspective. </p>
<p>My concern is whether with 122 this semester I will be able to program enough C to handle taking 213 (which is cross listed with ECE243) possibly as early as second semester or even later-- or is the quasi-C they’re going to teach going to put us at a disadvantage relative to the ECE majors taking 123? Or do you advise waiting to take 213 in the SCS sequence,…211, 212, 213 in that order, one each of the next three semesters.</p>
<p>choose your 21x order based on your interest in the courses they open up. If you like AI, for example, go for 211 second semester. I’m interested in systems / graphics more so I took 213 second semester and am taking 211 this fall, along with graphics.</p>
<p>Thanks BCO</p>
<p>I am glad to here the sequence isn’t critical… 213 is definitely an interest. If they approve it, I’d probably aim for 18240 as well in the spring.</p>
<p>Do you think the new 122 this fall will give me enough exposure to C to handle taking 213? Or am I going to need 123/c/unix anyways?</p>
<p>Do all CS majors take matrix in the Spring at the same time as Great Ideas?</p>