What kind of background knowledge is required for computer science?

What kind of background knowledge is required for computer science?

1. At least one programming language (Python, C++, Java, C#, Javascript, C, Haskell, Ruby, Rust, Scala) is required.

We need you to be able to write programs that can: 

1) read data from the standard input (usually a sequence of integers); 

2) compute the result (usually a few loops suffice); and 

3) print the result to the standard output. 

2. A basic understanding of discrete mathematics: induction, contradiction, and proof by induction.

For analyzing algorithms (proving correctness, predicting execution time) and algorithmic reasoning in general, discrete mathematics is required. We recommend that you take our partner specialization, Introduction to Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science if you wish to brush up on your discrete mathematics skills. It takes a try-this-before-we-explain-everything method to teach discrete mathematics: you'll be tackling a variety of interactive puzzles that were deliberately intended to allow you to invent many of the key ideas and concepts yourself. Alternatively, you might read Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science, which covers the same ground.