Member Avatar for techgirl87

Hi, I have a complicated situation. I am signed up for a CS420 course (Data Management Systems) this summer, although I haven't completed 2 of the "prerequisites" for the course which are a 100-level Java course and a 300-level 'Data Structures' course.

I am taking the course at a small, 'lower'-level public university so I am assuming the expectations won't be as rigorous as what might be found at a more competitive school.
The syllabus can be found here:
http://www.wou.edu/~liuj/CS420/handouts/SYLLABUS_Summer2010.doc

For those of you who have EXPERIENCE in computer science and have dealt with these basic fields, can you tell me whether it is a really bad idea to go into this course without a background in Java or Data Structures? Or is this something that can be managed provided I study really hard, and do all the readings and assignments to the best of my ability? I am willing to work VERY hard.

You can look at the syllabus I linked above more carefully to get a better idea of the course and what we'll be learning... here's the first part of the course description:

"This course studies the basic concepts of relational database from data modeling (entity-relationship model), database design, database implementation, information maintenance, and retrieving through SQL. The course also covers relational algebra, normalization, and the process of building a database application. Other topics discussed in the course include the history of data processing, database management systems tools and their vendors, and trends in the area of data processing."

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP!!! THIS IS REALLY REALLY URGENT!!!
(Also, please don't try to reason with me about the order I take the courses, it's a complicated situation of class availability and graduataion dates, etc. I just want your opinion on whether this can be done or not. Thank you!)

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by darkagn
Member Avatar for darkagn

I think you may be better off asking the course coordinator straight off rather than us, but in my opinion that course syllabus doesn't make a great deal of mention for why those courses are pre-requisites. I assume that you will be expected to write java code in your lab exercises and probably the term project as well, and data structures are probably assumed knowledge because they form the basis of many algorithms.

I would advise you to talk to the course liaison, explain your situation and find out if they have any advice as to how you can get up to speed in the areas that you are lacking. They may even be able to offer you some sort of extra tutoring or be able to point you in the direction of such services.

Good luck in your studies,
darkagn

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