Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment to reiterate something I mentioned in my section of CS-201.  This will also apply to those of you taking CS-201 in other sections as well.

As you may or may not have realized by now, it is essential to prepare the new material each week.  Being a student not too long ago, I know how easy it is to try to jump right into the homework, or to leave it to the last minute and then try to complete it.  The way the CS-201 class is structured, makes this very difficult to try to do.  Before even thinking about starting the homework, you need to be sure that you give yourselves enough time to prepare for it.

How does one prepare?  You need to have time to watch all the videos, read through the book, follow the PowerPoint slides online, and look over the code examples for the book (which can be downloaded following instructions in the Lesson 1 video).  After doing all this, if you have any questions regarding the material, you should make time to see your respective professors during their office hours, contact them through email, or even post to these forums.  Once the prep work is done, you have just laid the foundations necessary to complete the homework.

All of this takes time, obviously, so the longer you wait to prepare and do the homework the more you will struggle in the CS-201 class.  Do yourselves a favor and try to start the prep and homework as soon as you are able.  The very worst thing you can do is leave everything until the last minute.  You will be thankful in the long run!

~Keenan Knaur