Is Computer Science AP Hard?

[RichieZ]

no its pretty easy, took the AB test 3 yrs ago and got a 5

 

[zerocool1]

waiting for my scores...tons of cheating in class 🙂 lol. not too tough
EDIT: It's not too bad if you have a decent teacher my teacher didn't know how to teach at this level( she was teaching ap cs and algebra) and the book was crap.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga

Originally posted by: wfbberzerker
isnt ap board changing from c to java?

That would be great for me. I'd rather use Java over C but I hear that C does better for gaming.... Getting a job by learning Java is much easier too compared to knowing C.

Hmmmm besides games in cell phones, what modern games are created in Java? Just curious. Java is kinda slow for that stuff.

C is still used widely with Assembly for embedding, hardware drivers, and yes games.

Oh yeah, C# will ownz Java one day. 😉

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: KraziKid

Originally posted by: AgaBooga

Originally posted by: wfbberzerker isnt ap board changing from c to java?

That would be great for me. I'd rather use Java over C but I hear that C does better for gaming.... Getting a job by learning Java is much easier too compared to knowing C.

I just took the AP Computer Science AB test this past May in C++, and it was probably the easiest test I ever took. Yes, they are switching from C++ to Java next year. IMO this is a mistake. Java is like C++ holding your hand throughout everything. Good luck, and there is no need to take both A and AB classes or tests, just take one.

The AP guys have no choice but to switch to Java. A majority of major colleges use Java in their intro to CS class so to get credit accepted and make their test a worthy value, they need to offer it in that language. That has always driven their language choice since the exam has been offered. They have no control over the curriculum in any of their classes/tests except to try to cover the majority of major colleges as best as possible. On the other hand, if you do learn Java, you can apply a good amount of the Object Oriented concepts to C/C++. Sure the syntax is a bit different and there are a few things that are handled differently between the languages but it is not the same as them offering the test in something like Fortan, Lisp, or Prolog which all are different paradigms than are currently top in in the CS world.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I took Comp Sci AP back in my Jr year of HS. (This was like 96-97 school year) Back then it was all in Pascal. For me and about 1/2 of the class, It was pretty easy, and we got 4s and 5s on the AP test. The other half of the class just didn't grasp everything, and they were always struggling to figure it out. We had an awesome teacher and there were only like 20 people in my Comp Sci AP course. Even though I haven't really done any Pascal proglamming since then, I still remember a lot of it.

I spent about 1 to 2 hours per week out of class writing my code, I didn't do any other studying though

If I remember correctly , the AP exam was a combination of writing small sections of code, a small program, and some questions.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

I imagine it's pretty difficult if you don't study.

As an adolescent computer gearhead, it was probably the simplest of my AP exams.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

If you're good at programming and quick to understand new concepts and algorithms, you'll do fine. The vast, vast majority of the world isn't cut out for programming with good reason; the concepts go way over their head.

I don't know if this is standard, but our school broke AP CS into two classes, each a year long. The first year an intro class that covered all the A material, and the second year was a quick review of the first year plus the AB material. I took both offered classes and did relatively well through the year, but completely bombed the AB test. I did horribly on the case study and any portions involving binary trees and writing linked list code. I certainly wasn't the only one in my class that did poorly- and we had a great teacher.

I deserved it for not studying. My teacher was awesome, and I feel ashamed for doing so crappily on the final exam.

 

[cchen]

Its a pretty easy test if you're good at programming. I took it in 10th grade and everyone but like 2 or 3 in my class got 5's, they got 4's

 

[Electric Amish]

*sigh*

I wish we had these classes at my high school.... 🙁

amish

 

[xirtam]

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Yeah, I think I do remember that being the case. It was AB then (PASCAL).

I was reading the posts in this thread and was about to comment on the change from C to Java and then saw yours. I too was one of those people who took AP AB CS in PASCAL years ago, I was beginning to think I was the only one here who did! I guess that probably gives my age away now doesn't it? 😉

techfuzz

Does it? I took the AP test in Pascal. I'm only 20.

Of course, I took the AP test in middle school, so...

 

[CaptainKahuna]

I took A and AB combined into one year this year, and took the exam in May, I'm pretty sure I got at least a 4, probably a 5.

If you've got a brain that "works" with programming, you'll cruise. It didn't take me any time outside of class, and hardly any time in class.

Oh yea, and my teacher was a 70 year old woman who I swear is the personification of the absent minded professor. I had to turn in programs 2 or 3 times b/c she was losing them. Not to mention she doesn't know crap about C++. Ok, this is another thread entirely, I'm stopping now...

 

[KAMAZON]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
I'm taking Computer Science A AP next year, then Computer Science B AP junior year, and then Cisco Networking Senior year in high school.

Is the class hard? How much time out of class does it require, if any? And what is the final or AP Exam like? (As in, do we just write a program, multi choice questions, etc.)

When you're in Uni, the answer to that question is: "How hard is it to kiss your professors rear end"?

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: xirtam

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Yeah, I think I do remember that being the case. It was AB then (PASCAL).

I was reading the posts in this thread and was about to comment on the change from C to Java and then saw yours. I too was one of those people who took AP AB CS in PASCAL years ago, I was beginning to think I was the only one here who did! I guess that probably gives my age away now doesn't it? 😉

techfuzz

Does it? I took the AP test in Pascal. I'm only 20.

Of course, I took the AP test in middle school, so...

Oh, I guess not! I wish they had that kind of stuff when I was in middle school, I had to wait until high school until we took classes like that!

techfuzz

 

[Scarpozzi]

Back when I took it, we were on PASCAL still. It was pretty easy.