CS 1110 FAQs

I have (no/some/a lot of) experience. Is this course right for me?

CS 1110 assumes you have no prior programming experience. There is also a version of the course, CS 1112, that requires you have no prior experience; and a version, CS 1111, that assumes you do have some experience. If you have a lot of experience, you can also test out of all CS 111_ offerings.

See http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~cohoon/courses/which-cs-intro/ for more details.

I'm not a SEAS student. Can I take the course?

Because the course is required for SEAS students, portions of the enrollment period are restricted to SEAS students. These restrictions are lifted before enrollment concludes (expected to lift 2 or 3 December 2013, though the exact time is hard to predict), after which point the course is open to all students in the university.

I'm on the wait list… can I get off of it?

There is always some turnover before the semester starts, so SIS's wait list policies might get you a seat.

There is the possibility that a few seats will be given to students with particular need. This will be handled during the first week of class (and not before then).

If you are wait-listed on a lab, you are wait-listed on the lecture too. We do not anticipate opening additional lab sections (see next question).

The number of students on the waiting list is one part of how the school decides how many seats to offer in coming semesters. If you are on the waiting list and don't get in, please stay on the waiting list so that we are more likely to have seats for you in the future.

But why not just add more seats?

Good question. I don't have the ability to do so, and those with the ability aren't willing to do so.

See Aaron Bloomfield's discussion of this topic here. He writes it for a later course (CS2150), but much of the discussion holds for 1110 too.

Can you sign a course action form, help me swap sections, and/or let me register?

No. Course action forms and special SIS permissions invariably cause labs to end up with more students on the rolls than they can actually fit. No matter how valid your reasoning, SIS doesn't give me (or anyone else) enough control to add people without violating enrollment caps. We are stuck with SIS's own first-come first-serve wait lists.

But I'm special…

I believe you, but there is no way to honor that special status before the first week of class. If you are one of the people with the greatest academic need during the first week of class then I'll give you a seat then.

Can I take the lecture without the lab?

Not in 1110. 1111 has the same subject material, homework, tests, etc, but does not have labs.

Can I take the lab without the lecture?

No.

Can I take it online, in the summer, elsewhere, etc?

Not at UVa. Summer offerings might happen, but none are currently planned. However, there is a CS1 placement test, so if you learn the material without taking the class here, we can acknowledge that. See http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~sherriff/cs1110/placement.php for more.

What are the prerequisites?

Basically none. We do assume you can perform division and find the remainder, and that you understand elementary algebra.

What textbook?

Tony Gaddis, Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Objects (5th Edition) ISBN-13: 978-0132855839

Note on the 4rd Edition: The chapters and page numbers in the 4th edition are different than the 5th. If you purchase the 4th edition, it will be up to you to figure out all of the changes. Further, if we do something that's only in the 5th edition, its up to you to catch up with the material.

You can get the book in several formats (bound or not bound, e-text or paper or both, etc.). You are welcome to pick any of them. You will not need the software that comes with the text, so used books are OK too.

There's some other restriction on the class now…

Aparently a lot of people can restrict enrollment without informing me, but can only do so for a period of a week or two at a time. Below are the restriction periods I have discovered so far:

• Before December 2: only SEAS students
• December 10–16: only 4th year math and cognitive science majors
• January 10–14: only SEAS students

Where's the rest of this site?

It's coming…