100% recommended! This course exceeded my expectations.

It is a great starting point for someone who does not have any experience coding. It covers all the topic step by step so you will never get lost.

The professors have particularly good methods to teach the content and all the topics are very clear and organised.

The videos and readings are in an appropriate length so you can get the required information and nothing else, so you do not waste your time.

Its also possible to progress with the course in multiple platforms (PC, mobile device, cast to a screen, etc.) and get the most of it in every platform.

I would only recommend adding a closing video to summarize what the students have learned and to suggest where to go from here if they want to continue learning more.

Great work from the University of Toronto and Cursera!

I thought this was a very good course, and quizzes were very interesting and forced you to really stretch your Python muscles and question what you really learned so far. The only things I would have liked to see more on this course would be a few more exercises, and ideally a few more videos that help you get a better idea on how Python will compile the code even before you test the concept learned in the Python shell. I still feel like I haven't made enough progress, and would very much like a sequence to this course. With a few more videos easing in on the more difficult problems in the quizzes, and possibly a third programming assignment would make this course even better. I would rate 4.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 5. Thank you!

I took this course a while ago, and it was the first online course I had done so I had nothing to compare it too. I have since done some other programming classes online and it's made me realize how good this course actually was. The profs are good and communicate clearly, there are lots of questions, posed at the appropriate times, the content is perfect for a beginner: lots of programming, but also a strong focus on the concepts behind the code and *how* it works. I am really grateful this was the first course I took. I think I would feel really frustrated with the holes in some of these other intro courses.

Awesome course, very well structured. Good pace. Not too easy, but when you are seriously trying to complete the course it was also not too difficult. Highly recommend!

This is definitely NOT a basic programming course. I'm glad I had taken another basic Python course before this one. Also, the quizzes were very confusing and sometimes I didn't know what they were looking for. The quizzes are NOT 30 min, they are a lot more. Overall, I'm glad I'm done with this course but if you are thinking about taking this course and have zero knowledge about Python, this is NOT the course for you. The video lectures do not match the difficulty of the quizzes and assignments so you will have a hard time in this course.

It started very promising. Difficult but interesting stuff, I thought. Was taking notes and learned a lot. But that was Week 1 and the first part of Week 2. Towards the end of Week 2 everything changed. The Programming Assignment at the end of Week 2 is absolutely ridiculous: many learners have no clue what they're supposed to do there or, if they do, they run into various uploading problems and errors. My motivation really went from 100% to 0% after just reading all the stuff you have to do to get the Programming Assignment to work properly (if it works at all), and after reading how many people were having problems with it (and so many different types of problems) I just quit, because I don't want to risk running into more of these types of assignments and getting stuck just because of all the steps you have to do 100% correct for the program to ''like" you. The instructors in the videos were very good and I learned quite a bit from them, but I'm not doing these types of over-complicated assignments when they could really test our skills in a much more user-friendly way. So my problem isn't with the course's content, but with its assignment and testing methods where so many things can go wrong in so many ways and these tests are ridiculously time-consuming.

I just finished Lesson 1 and I have already found some issues:

They said that if you divide 2 int you will always get a float number... That is incorrect because it depends on your Python's version.

Ex: Python 2.7.13 (default, Jan 19 2017, 14:48:08)

[GCC 6.3.0 20170118] on linux2

>>> 8 / 7

1

EXAM Questions

What is the value of x after this statement x = 12 / 3.

I answered 4 and the system considered my answer wrong. I presume the correct answer was x=4

What is the value after executing this round(45.342).

I answered 45.0 and again, the system considered it wrong. (This is really unacceptable that the system is unaware that 45 == 45.0)

I will give this course the benefit of the doubt and keep going on with my next lesson.

The course is indeed good with outstanding professors, yet the version of python taught in this class is very old. I would love, that the University of Toronto update its course to a recent version of python because for some students said version does not work on their updated laptops

it is not a beginner-friendly course. It assumes students know everything on the first go. Every quiz in the video expects you to know the answers without an option to supply the answer to you to help you understand why it is so if you don't happen to know the correct answer. So I was unable to answer some of the questions in the quiz and didn't understand what I was doing wrong. If the quizzes showed answers, it helps the student to know what to do next time and better understand the concept. I could skip the quiz, but what it means is, I will never really learn what I should have done in that situation. You must consider that some students are hearing these things for the first time so there is no way they will grab the idea immediately. So I found that the quizzes in between the videos, should have been helpful but were not because the correct answers were not supplied should incase the student cant figure it out. The lessons prior to the quizzes don't quite do justice to the explanations and are so dry and nonengaging enough. Anyway, i have to quit this program and find something else.

I am a beginner and this course should be designed for the likes of me, but having completed the course I have found many of the concepts have not sunk in yet. I don't know if it's the quality of the teaching or my circumstance - or both. So much of this course requires me to follow along and do as instructed, but if called upon to duplicate the work myself I would be lost. The instructors rush through difficult concepts and the difficulty level does not progress for a beginner like me but jumps. The time commitment is not as indicated (at least for me) with quizzes that are supposed to take minutes taking hours and assignments that are supposed to take hours taking weeks. The only saving grace of this course was the mentor Patrick Dennis. If it was not for Patrick's assistance, I would never have gotten through this course.

The instructors may be knowledgeable, but they had no knack for teaching.

Extremely Outdated

I recently completed the Python course offered by the University of Toronto on Coursera, starting on February 17th and finishing on March 14th. From start to finish, the experience was nothing short of fantastic. The course content was not only well-structured but also incredibly engaging. Learning Python felt more enjoyable here than anywhere else I've tried. The instructors, Professor Jennifer Campbell and Professor Paul Gries, deserve a special mention for their clear and inspiring teaching style. One aspect I particularly appreciated was the emphasis on writing well-organized code with thorough docstrings and examples. This attention to detail truly sets this course apart. The motivation I've gained from this experience has ignited my passion for programming, and I'm now eager to explore more courses offered by the University of Toronto. Both Coursera and the University of Toronto deserve commendation for providing such high-quality education free of charge. My sincerest gratitude goes out to everyone involved in creating and delivering this outstanding learning opportunity. Thank you for a truly enriching experience. P.S. I also want to highlight the exceptional support provided by Professor Paul Gries in the discussion forums. His descriptive clarifications and guidance were invaluable for understanding any questions that arose. Thanks to his expertise, I found myself able to progress through the course smoothly, often without needing to ask a single question. His dedication to ensuring clarity deserves great appreciation.

This course is really fun, easy and you get a lot to learn. The mentors of this course use simple language to make us understand. The most important part is that the programming language is taught from scratch with a lot (a lot) of fun examples, so you really get to know to how to use the methods and function with different algorithms and approach. The Assignments are great way to boost the learning as you have to work on the logic yourself and also the assignments are easy and have very interesting topics, this makes you willing to take the assignments. I really appreciate the efforts the course instructors have put in, in making all those videos. Thanks to both the mentors.

Personally I would like to say that, I felt like the programming language is spoon-feed to me because from The school I passed, we have to do a lot of effort ourselves to learn even from the teachers there. Thanks again to both the instructors.

My primary goal was to get to know what really happens inside the program when we type any kind of code. In that regard, this course has fulfilled and to be honest, surpassed my expectations .

Let me highlight that the assignments are especially something that I loved doing, and I have a learnt a lot about the thought process that goes behind writing any program as well.

Therefore, I am immensely grateful to instructors Jennifer and Paul who undoubtedly have left left no stone unturned in designing a course which explains the fundamentals of programming in python lucidly and efficiently.

I feel very confident now in coding with python which is strongly aligned my career goal of becoming a data scientist. I'll be sure to recommend this wonderful course to my fellow aspirants as well. :)

This was a wonderful course. The explanations were clear, with lots of examples.

I appreciated the summary sheets that were provided at the end of each lecture, which were very helpful when reviewing material later. The quizzes, both within the lectures and at the end of each week, helped continually test that I was actually absorbing the information I was learning.

I also found the transcription of the lecture helpful at times to understand concepts when I was finding that re-watching that section of the audio wasn't helping.

The assignments were very useful for putting what I had learned into practice, and the automarking was very helpful for helping me identify mistakes I had made. And importantly, it helped keep me motivated and engaged to improve my skills in Python. 10/10!

I'm an absolute beginner in Python and not very familiar with Coursera, and I really enjoyed this course. The videos were great, especially because of the questions that popped up every few minutes to check for comprehension. The readings were useful for quick reviews. The quizzes weren't too difficult, and I actually learned a lot from them, though they always took me more than the estimated 30 minutes. The assignments were a good level of difficulty and actually pretty fun. Whenever I made a mistake on a quiz or assignment, I just went to the discussion forum to see if anyone had made a post about it. I never needed to post there because there were already plenty of explanations from previous years. This course took me about 33 hours over 7 weeks to finish.

This course is more focused on theory behind python than I expected. Other courses have only brushed over the concepts behind the programming system while here it's a significant topic which I found challenging in the beginning but really helped my understanding as a whole as the course progressed.

The quizzes and assignments are no cakewalk, serious thought is needed to pass. Each week would take me about 3 - 4 hours (assignment weeks about 6 hours) and I would consider myself a quick learner / corner cutter.

It was my first time taking a computer programming course, also my first time taking a course on Coursera. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it. The tests and assignments were such a good idea, and the professors were so so helpful every step of the way. The lectures, explanations and notes were on point and very understandable. Thank you so much Coursera for this amazing course, and thank you sooooo much to the professors for all your work. Cannot wait to dive deeper into programming.

Excellent course. Covered a good range of language features. I thought the order of presentation was very good and the format of videos with short quizzes, readings and longer quizzes was also good. The programming exercises that focussed on completing functions were good but I wonder if some students may find that since there were no complete programming tasks from scratch, that they finish the course without knowing how to do that.

Thank You!

I am not an absolute begginer at programming, but this course helped me strenghten my skills and taught me the basics of Python in a challenging and engaging manner. I recommend it specially if you have programmed in other languages and want to enroll in Python, but if you don't, don't worry because the explanations are well done and the forum has a remarkable support for your questions.

Great Course to start programming. I have never done anything in python or programming at all but nevertheless I was able to follow the course. Instructive videos, tests matching the content of the videos and a great forum where you get help within minutes or some hours - would totally recommend this course to everyone who wants to get into python-programming!

A very beginner friendly course with a lot of knowledge and all core concepts covered. Had fun doing the assignments and quizes that were part of the course. Feeling confident to move forward and obviously very happy to complete the course. A big applause to both the professors to hold hand through out the course. All in al a very good course a deserving 5*.

Honestly I don't think programming is for me but this course was very engaging and helpful at teaching me the basics. It was probably the best introduction I could have had for free. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a free introduction to Python programming who wants to learn the basics in a flexible time frame.

I have a background of sparse contact with programming principles and tools and this course helped me feel comfortable with computer programming principles. It also provided a good understanding of python and a solid foundation for further developing my skills in this programming language