CMSC250 is disrete mathematics. There is no programming. It's basically a math course taught in the cs department that gives you the basic skills needed to prove the "correctness" and expected runtime of algorithms. It is the precurser to CMSC351 Introduction to Algorithms (you can't pass that course without the knowledge you gain in 250). If you love math you may enjoy both of these courses. If you are looking for something else then avoid them like the plague. These are the two big weed-out courses in the cs department. Many people I know failed one or both of them and they generally are not fun.
Don't let me scare you away though.... Bernie ---- Original message ---- >Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:12:35 -0500 >From: Rob Sherwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [UM-LINUX] Course suggestions for a non-major >To: [email protected] > >On Wed, Dec 20, 2006 at 06:55:14AM -0500, Gabriel J. Michael wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> I'm a senior GVPT major graduating this Spring, but I've always been >> interested in computers and electronics. I have a lot of practical >> experience with the two; I've held progamming jobs where I worked in Perl >> and VBA, I once wrote a driver in C for a magstripe card reader connected >> via the parallel port, I'm decent with a soldering iron, familiar with >> Linux, etc. My problem is that I don't really understand any of the theory >> behind the projects I play with, so I'd like to maybe audit a CMSC or ENEE >> course for the hell of it. Any suggestions? Keep in mind that I've only >> taken up to MATH 141, and I've neven taken a formal programming course >> (unless you count Pascal in high school...) >> >> I see there is CMSC 198A, "Special Topics in Computer Science for >> Non-Majors" - anyone know anything about that? > >I believe 198A is basically a catch-all class for independent research >projects (it has no course description). > >The problem is that all of the non-majors cmsc classes are probably >not worth your time. If I were you, I would try to take one of the CS >placement exams to see what programming courses you can place out of. >If you're interested in theory, I would recommend CMSC250. It is very >math based, and despite the requirement of cmsc131, has very little >programming (someone who has taken the class more recently than I did >should speak up if I'm wrong). If you don't place out of the first >programming class, I would still try to talk to the instructor of CMSC250, >explain your situation, and see if they won't let you audit the class. > >Also, what do you mean by "you want to learn the theory"? Theory to >CS people means more like math and algorithms and proving properties >about algorithms (that's what I assumed above). If you mean something >different, then I can recommend something different. > >- Rob >.
