6 ms·

CS61A Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

83 points by miobrien 9y ago

ivan_ah 9y ago
Really nice course. Labs come with solutions and would make an excellent "challenge pack" for anyone learning Python and CS right now.
sudoscript 9y ago
I did this course a while back just when I was getting started on my self-taught journey. I'd highly recommend this over Harvard's CS50 or MIT's intro course. This has great coverage of how a computer program works, without being too pedantic.
- wideem 9y ago
  I feel that the biggest strength of CS50 is its wide scope of technologies used. Provides a real great introduction to the field of computer science
  - zealsham 9y ago
    This Course does not come close to cs50 in anyway. cs50 makes computer programming look intresting to a lawyer
    - cchubitunes 9y ago
      Yes, CS50 is quite lively but in terms of quality, 61A beats CS50 hands down.
jordonwii 9y ago
In case anyone's curious, this is a rather old iteration of the course (2011, right after it switched from scheme to Python). The current iteration is at http://cs61a.org http://cs61a.org - taught by two undergrads for the summer. The most recent two iterations taught by professors are http://fa16.cs61a.org http://fa16.cs61a.org and http://sp17.cs61a.org http://sp17.cs61a.org
- jpeg_hero 9y ago
  I can't even conceive of CS61a not being scheme/lisp.
  - CalChris 9y ago
    Yeah, I liked Scheme but that was the last I ever saw of it. They didn't even use it in CS 188. Now they beat Python into your head like a catechism. And while I really liked Scheme, I didn't like SICP which like the bible we actually never read and only worshipped.
    - tmccrmck 9y ago
      > And while I really liked Scheme, I didn't like SICP which like the bible we actually never read and only worshipped. Uh when did you take it? When I took the self-paced version with Harvey we read SICP. I mean, I'm sure some students skipped readings but they were still assigned nevertheless.
      - CalChris 9y ago
        Harvey worshipped SICP so that makes sense. I took 61A with Hilfinger (who usually taught 61B) and I didn't crack the book. His lectures and notes were very thorough. I can't remember if there were readings on the syllabus that I skipped but I didn't crack the book. Moreover, I was always big on doing the reading before class. Class was a review. Later when I did read SICP, I didn't like it. Maybe that was like reading the book after seeing the movie. Dunno, but I didn't like it. As an aside, there was a whole subculture of students who read nothing but just did the HW and worked past tests and sets. They did amazingly well. I had a study buddy who did that in EE20. I prepped him for the final and he told me he'd beat me; he narrowly did. He graduated with a 3.9+ GPA in EECS which is insane. He hated ideas then and now. But he tested insanely well. It was just pattern matching.
        tmccrmck 9y ago
        > Later when I did read SICP, I didn't like it. Maybe that was like reading the book after seeing the movie. Dunno, but I didn't like it. Which introductory CS books did you enjoy? I still love my copy of Patterson and Hennessy but it is dry compared to SICP. To someone who had only ever programmed in C++ before 61A, SICP felt like an adventure. > As an aside, there was a whole subculture of students who read nothing but just did the HW and worked past tests and sets. They did amazingly well. Yep. Sadly this has only become more common with the rapid growth of the major. Most of my friends were brilliant but they didn't love EECS. If they had been 10 years older they probably would have majored in math or physics but they felt pressured to study something that would get them a job. They were able to do well just by studying old tests. We would only get old tests from HKN but many students were somehow able to illegally obtain them. Cheating has only become more rampant and more sophisticated -- the department is going to have to address it at some point instead of sticking their head in the sand.
sdiq 9y ago
I fear the current 'iterations' might not last long because of the video aspect. I have been following two other courses from Berkeley: data8.org and datastructur.es. However, because of a certain directive (and I don't fault university for it) the video lectures are no longer public. Sad.
- AlexeyBrin 9y ago
  Seems that CS61A video lectures have subtitles so it shouldn't be a problem: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/fa16/ http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/fa16/

83 points by miobrien 9y ago

Really nice course. Labs come with solutions and would make an excellent "challenge pack" for anyone learning Python and CS right now.

sudoscript 9y ago

I did this course a while back just when I was getting started on my self-taught journey. I'd highly recommend this over Harvard's CS50 or MIT's intro course. This has great coverage of how a computer program works, without being too pedantic.

wideem 9y ago
I feel that the biggest strength of CS50 is its wide scope of technologies used. Provides a real great introduction to the field of computer science
- zealsham 9y ago
  This Course does not come close to cs50 in anyway. cs50 makes computer programming look intresting to a lawyer
  - cchubitunes 9y ago
    Yes, CS50 is quite lively but in terms of quality, 61A beats CS50 hands down.

jordonwii 9y ago

In case anyone's curious, this is a rather old iteration of the course (2011, right after it switched from scheme to Python). The current iteration is at http://cs61a.org http://cs61a.org - taught by two undergrads for the summer. The most recent two iterations taught by professors are http://fa16.cs61a.org http://fa16.cs61a.org and http://sp17.cs61a.org http://sp17.cs61a.org

jpeg_hero 9y ago
I can't even conceive of CS61a not being scheme/lisp.
- CalChris 9y ago
  Yeah, I liked Scheme but that was the last I ever saw of it. They didn't even use it in CS 188. Now they beat Python into your head like a catechism. And while I really liked Scheme, I didn't like SICP which like the bible we actually never read and only worshipped.
  - tmccrmck 9y ago
    > And while I really liked Scheme, I didn't like SICP which like the bible we actually never read and only worshipped. Uh when did you take it? When I took the self-paced version with Harvey we read SICP. I mean, I'm sure some students skipped readings but they were still assigned nevertheless.
    - CalChris 9y ago
      Harvey worshipped SICP so that makes sense. I took 61A with Hilfinger (who usually taught 61B) and I didn't crack the book. His lectures and notes were very thorough. I can't remember if there were readings on the syllabus that I skipped but I didn't crack the book. Moreover, I was always big on doing the reading before class. Class was a review. Later when I did read SICP, I didn't like it. Maybe that was like reading the book after seeing the movie. Dunno, but I didn't like it. As an aside, there was a whole subculture of students who read nothing but just did the HW and worked past tests and sets. They did amazingly well. I had a study buddy who did that in EE20. I prepped him for the final and he told me he'd beat me; he narrowly did. He graduated with a 3.9+ GPA in EECS which is insane. He hated ideas then and now. But he tested insanely well. It was just pattern matching.
      - tmccrmck 9y ago
        > Later when I did read SICP, I didn't like it. Maybe that was like reading the book after seeing the movie. Dunno, but I didn't like it. Which introductory CS books did you enjoy? I still love my copy of Patterson and Hennessy but it is dry compared to SICP. To someone who had only ever programmed in C++ before 61A, SICP felt like an adventure. > As an aside, there was a whole subculture of students who read nothing but just did the HW and worked past tests and sets. They did amazingly well. Yep. Sadly this has only become more common with the rapid growth of the major. Most of my friends were brilliant but they didn't love EECS. If they had been 10 years older they probably would have majored in math or physics but they felt pressured to study something that would get them a job. They were able to do well just by studying old tests. We would only get old tests from HKN but many students were somehow able to illegally obtain them. Cheating has only become more rampant and more sophisticated -- the department is going to have to address it at some point instead of sticking their head in the sand.

sdiq 9y ago

I fear the current 'iterations' might not last long because of the video aspect. I have been following two other courses from Berkeley: data8.org and datastructur.es. However, because of a certain directive (and I don't fault university for it) the video lectures are no longer public. Sad.

AlexeyBrin 9y ago
Seems that CS61A video lectures have subtitles so it shouldn't be a problem: http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/fa16/ http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/fa16/