I'm about to start my first year of college in computer engineering, combining electrical engineering and computer science. My only programming background is an AP-level course, and I'm still learning basic computer concepts—for example, I'm not completely clear on the difference between downloading and installing a program.
I started watching MIT's Missing Semester because it covers tools that computer science students use constantly, such as the command line, shells, editors, Git, and debugging. It seemed like a smart way to prepare for college and make future coursework easier. However, the lectures often use unfamiliar terminology, and I'm beginning to wonder whether they assume more programming or computer experience than I currently have.
Would this course still be useful in my situation, or would I be better off first learning basic programming and general computer skills? Should I continue watching it for exposure and look up unfamiliar terms, or return to it after I've had more hands-on experience?
3 Answers
You’re not necessarily too early, but some of the material probably won’t stick until you’ve encountered the problems these tools solve. The course is useful for learning about shells, Git, editors, debugging, and command-line workflows, but those topics make much more sense once you’re creating files, running programs, installing packages, using version control, and breaking things yourself.
You can keep watching it now, but treat it as an introduction rather than something you need to master before college. After you’ve spent a semester programming, watching it again will probably be much more valuable.
I’d prioritize building basic programming skills first. A little C followed by Python could give you useful practice and make the other material easier to follow. That said, the most important preparation may be general computer literacy: navigating the file system, moving and renaming files, installing and uninstalling software, unpacking archives, updating programs, understanding file extensions, checking whether you’re using an x86, x64, or ARM version, and knowing what is stored locally versus in the cloud.
Many introductory college courses assume little programming experience, but being comfortable managing your own computer will save you a lot of frustration. You don’t have to abandon the course completely—just work on those foundations first and return to it when the terminology has more context.
Additional programming practice can help, but the key point is not to confuse language knowledge with general computer skills. Even if your college courses start from the beginning, knowing how your operating system and files work will make everything smoother.
It wouldn’t hurt to watch it just to become familiar with the vocabulary and general ideas. Whenever a term is unfamiliar, pause and look it up or use an explanation tool to get some context. You don’t need to understand every detail on the first pass.
I did take an AP computer science course already. Do you mean I should learn more beyond that before focusing on these tools?