we're here with the students from AP Computer Science
to give you some information about computer science
What sort of content will they learn in this class?
um... were gonna learn a lot of computer concepts and we're gonna learn to program in java
java mainly extensively learn to program in java
and ah part of that is complex understanding and how to tackle a problem from  multiple directions
and we learn programming and coding obviously
oh we are basically just cover java and other computer science concepts through java
I was 13 when I first got access to a computer
my parents bought me a Macintosh in 1984
when I was eight years old
I learned to code in college
freshman year  first semester intro to computer science
i wrote a program to play tic-tac-toe
it waspretty humble beginnings i think thefirst program I wrote asked things like what's your favorite color or how old are you
I first learned how to make a green
circle and a red square appear on the screen
the first time I actually had
something come up and say hello world
I made a computer do that
was just astonishing
What sort of challenges did you face while taking this class
I thought that a learning the vocabulary
was the hardest part
for me it's like we're doing homework at home no one's like helping us so i can't really any help
so it's just like struggling
i think the biggest challenge for me was that unlike math like science
unlike a lot of these other  these other practices and sciences that involve a single way
single method of technical problem
computer science is nearly endless
in the amounts of thought processes you can approach something with
yeah i have to agree with that very different type of a class in the way the
attack all the problems you're given it
different type of a class in the way the
attack all the problems you're given it
a lot of complex thought  .
it's really not unlike kind of playing an instrument or something or you're playing sport
it starts out being very intimidating
but kinda get the hang of it over time
coding is something that can be learned
and I know it can be intimidating a lot
of things are intimidating but you know
but what isn't
a lot of the coating the people do is actually fairly simple it's it's more about the process of breaking
down problems then you know sort of
coming up with complicated algorithms as
people traditionally think about it
you don't have to be a genius to know how to code you need to be determined
additions subtractions that that's about it
should probably know your multiplication tables
you don't have to be a genius to code
do you have to be a genius to read ?
even if you wanna become a racecar driver or play baseball or you know build a house
all of these things have been turned upside down my software
what it is know computers are are everywhere you want to work in agriculture
do you want to work in entertainment do you want to work in manufacturing it's just all over
here we are 2013 we all depend on
technology to communicate to bank
information and none of us know how to
read and write code
For this class how many hours each week should they expect to spend on reading and homework
I really don't spend more than 2 hours unless there's a big project then it takes more
ah for me someone who attempts to go above and beyond
get every single extra credit problem I can and still has an average grade in this class
I spend during especially
the first couple semester first semester
I spent nearly almost 20 to 10 hours a
week on just programing im kinda slow too
well for me it's like 10 minutes for homework  and 2 hours  for something for the project
I think that's the basic homework it
isn't really takes a few minutes
but whe you have a project that week or something to dominate your schedule
why did you take this class and didn't
meet your expectations?
As far as expectations i think it's one of the best computer classes I've ever taken
just because of how in-depth is
for why I took it I  really dont have a good answer I just wanted to try it.
i took this class because it looks good on my college application and
I'm kind of interesting in  computers
I took the class because I want to be here I want to learn  Computer Science i want to learn these programming languages
but didn't want to just learn them I want to understand them and have firm understanding about these
compter languages that are taught by microsoft employees
and i thought that was one of the main reasons that I took this class
yea I took this class because I was interested in computers  in computers and  I enjoy programming
and I wanted to learn more and as far as expectations i think it's exceeded my expectations pretty well
whether you're trying to make a lot of
money or whether you just want to change
the world computer program is incredibly
empowering skill to learn
i think if someone had told me that software is
really about humanity that it's really
about helping people by using computer
technology it would have changed my
outlook a lot earlier
to be able to actually come up with an idea and thensee it in your hands and then be able to press a button haven't been millions of
people's hands minute I think we're the first generation the world that's really
ever had that kind of experience
the programmers of tomorrow are the Wizards of the future you know you're gonna look
like you have magic powers compared to
everybody else
it's amazing it's I think it's the closest thing we have to a superpower
great coders are today's rock stars that's it
