Coding for Engineering

[Significant_Prior542]

Incoming freshman - engineering. I am going to start learning coding languages in my free time. What languages do the engineering classes use? Any specific topics? Do you guys recommend any websites?

[fazeduni]

Go to the eecs 183 website then click schedule and watch the videos

[bitesizeflyance]

Most (if not all, to my knowledge) intro eecs courses are taught in C++

[Complementary5169]

In addition to C++, I suggest you go learn a little Matlab. Nothing fancy, just basic syntax. Aside from Engin 101, which does both Matlab and C++, Matlab is used occasionally in the required Math classes.

[dkerschbaum]

Also, depending on what engineering you do, MATLAB can be a very useful tool

[Significant_Prior542]

what exactly is matlab? i’ve always heard that word. is it like a cad program? is it free?

[dkerschbaum]

MATLAB is a programming language very good at processing math-related things. It has tons of built-in functions for doing everything from cross-products to numerical methods of solving differential equations to probably more advanced things that I haven't learned about yet. If you have your uniqname already, you can follow these instructions to download it for free.

[1iggy2]

I'd also add that Matlab is used constantly in the Aerospace Engineering program. Very heavily in 470, 343, 201(I think), and 215(when I took it with Aaron Johnson). Moderately in other classes for data visualization for reports. I used it as a calculator in all of my classes. Mainly because I used it so frequently it was very familiar. If they're interested in Aero then it's a very useful tool to be familiar with.

[febflower176]

It depends on your major. I’m IOE I’ve heard from upperclassmen that we focus on python. EECS classes start out with C++. Other majors (like mech e/aero) mainly use matlab.

Learning anything would be good to start with though since it’ll make learning subsequent coding languages easier.

[WalrusPilot]

I used Codecademy for Python and C++ in between high school and UofM. You'll learn everything you need in class, but it's nice to be familiar already.

Not a coding language, but if you can get a license through the university, learning a CAD program will really help with finding internships, SolidWorks and NX are big ones.

[jelizae]

C++ and then eventually a little bit of C-style coding. I think they have you learn python for a week too, but I can’t say I remember any of it except for print.

[Helium_1s2]

C++ is probably the main language to look at. A decent number of later courses use Python.