I'm about to start my first year of college in computer engineering, combining electrical engineering and computer science. My only formal programming experience is an AP-level course from high school. I started the Missing Semester lecture series because it covers practical tools that students often use for years—such as the shell, command line, editors, Git, and debugging—but don't always learn explicitly in class.
However, I'm finding the lectures confusing because they use terms I don't understand yet. I'm still unclear on basic concepts like the difference between downloading and installing a program, so I'm wondering whether the course assumes more computer and programming experience than I have.
Would this course still be useful for someone at my level? Should I continue watching it now, focus on basic computer skills or programming first, and return to it later? I'd also appreciate advice from people who have taken the course and found it helpful.
4 Answers
It’s fine to watch the lectures just to become familiar with the vocabulary and see what kinds of tools exist. When you encounter an unfamiliar term, pause and look it up or use an explanation tool to fill in the gap. Treat the course as exposure rather than a prerequisite course you must completely understand right away.
Being unsure about downloading versus installing is a sign that the practical computer basics should come first—not something to be embarrassed about. Learn how to use your file manager, recognize complete filenames and extensions, manage local and cloud files, install and remove applications, unpack archives, keep software updated, and make backups. Many classes don’t spend time teaching these skills because they assume students already have them. Once those fundamentals feel natural, the Missing Semester material should be much easier to follow.
You’re not necessarily too early, but some of the material will probably make more sense after you’ve used the problems these tools are meant to solve. The course covers genuinely useful topics like the shell, Git, editors, and debugging, but you don’t need to master every lecture before college. You could watch it now as a general introduction, without worrying about memorizing everything, then revisit it after a semester of programming. Once you’ve used the terminal, installed packages, managed files, worked with Git, and broken a few things, the lessons will likely click much faster.
I’d prioritize basic computer skills and some hands-on programming first. Make sure you’re comfortable navigating files and folders, moving, copying, renaming, unpacking, updating, installing, and uninstalling programs, and understanding whether something is stored locally or in the cloud. It’s also useful to learn about file extensions, backups, operating-system updates, and the differences between common software versions such as x86, x64, and ARM. After that, learning some C and Python—or strengthening what you already know from your AP course—would give you useful practice before returning to the lectures.
College courses often assume little programming knowledge, so you don’t need to rush through several languages. The more important first step is becoming comfortable with your operating system and everyday computer tasks. Programming practice can help with that, but it isn’t a substitute for basic computer literacy.
I did take an AP computer science course already. Do you mean I should go beyond that material, or mainly get more comfortable using my computer and writing programs?