Throughout the semester attend class, keep current (ie. be completely on top of what you have learned to that point), and as much as possible work on the Course Web Page example programs and/or the Short Example Programs regularly - in previous years, failure to ATTEND CLASS, keep CURRENT, and WRITE CODE regularly almost ALWAYS results in an F, maybe a D-, or more likely dropping the course. Conversely, doing these typically results in the many very high grades we also see each year, as the course is not at all difficult if you keep up and you see the Professor immediately if you find that you do not fully understand something.