[ghaff]

CS/programming (yes, I know they're not the same thing) is something of an odd beast at many top schools. I took MIT's intro MOOC a while back. And the idea that I could pass that, alongside other coursework, never having done any real programming boggles the mind. Yet, no other engineering major has that degree of informal prerequisite. And, yes, it's pretty much like the arts.

(As a side note, I did take an Intro to Music class in college. Of course, I discover it's taught by a rather well-known choral director so the class is filled with people who were quite practiced in music and said choral was happy to teach to that level. I actually got something out of it but a lot was also over my head.)

(As another side note, way back when I took intro to programming--or whatever it was called--for non-CS majors. This was back before PCs were widespread and I'm sure anyone here would find it ludicrously elementary for even an intro course at a good university.)