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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Programming Languages, Part A by University of Washington

4.9
stars
1,876 ratings

About the Course

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of programming languages, with a strong emphasis on functional programming. The course uses the languages ML, Racket, and Ruby as vehicles for teaching the concepts, but the real intent is to teach enough about how any language “fits together” to make you more effective programming in any language -- and in learning new ones. This course is neither particularly theoretical nor just about programming specifics -- it will give you a framework for understanding how to use language constructs effectively and how to design correct and elegant programs. By using different languages, you will learn to think more deeply than in terms of the particular syntax of one language. The emphasis on functional programming is essential for learning how to write robust, reusable, composable, and elegant programs. Indeed, many of the most important ideas in modern languages have their roots in functional programming. Get ready to learn a fresh and beautiful way to look at software and how to have fun building it. The course assumes some prior experience with programming, as described in more detail in the first module. The course is divided into three Coursera courses: Part A, Part B, and Part C. As explained in more detail in the first module of Part A, the overall course is a substantial amount of challenging material, so the three-part format provides two intermediate milestones and opportunities for a pause before continuing. The three parts are designed to be completed in order and set up to motivate you to continue through to the end of Part C. The three parts are not quite equal in length: Part A is almost as substantial as Part B and Part C combined. Week 1 of Part A has a more detailed list of topics for all three parts of the course, but it is expected that most course participants will not (yet!) know what all these topics mean....

Top reviews

JF

Mar 14, 2023

Excellent course and teacher. I love that all of it was 100% accessible for free, and that it was both fun and challenging, yet very doable for most people who do their work and had prior experience.

YZ

Dec 2, 2016

I'm just a beginner for CS or SE classes, and find this course really concise and challenging. It opens a door for me to get deeper into programming language. No wonder it got so high average score.

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301 - 325 of 546 Reviews for Programming Languages, Part A

By Jack Z

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May 2, 2021

Invaluable intro to FP and a step by step instruction into using ML

By Deleted A

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Feb 14, 2021

Fun and rewarding. It really helps to improve my programming skill.

By Jediii

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Mar 15, 2020

I learned too much from this amazing course! Thx Dan, Thx Coursera!

By Buniamin S

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Apr 28, 2020

Very good, Dan! Thank you! Hope you will update this course soon))

By Israel O O

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Feb 9, 2020

Excelent material, the video lessons with Dan are very explanatory

By David C

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Oct 25, 2016

I really learned a lot from the course, and the teacher is awesome

By Syed G F

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Sep 18, 2016

like the approach and style of teaching by Dan Grossman. Awesome !

By Niko K

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Mar 30, 2020

Great course - instructor's passion for the subject is inspiring.

By Nguyen D H A

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Oct 2, 2023

Great course! I learn a lot, homeworks & quiz are super helpful!

By Brett A

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Oct 6, 2021

Great subject, great lecturer, great course. Highly recommended!

By Jason L

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Apr 2, 2021

Really well done. Professor Dan Grossman is a great instructor.

By Eslam A

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Jun 18, 2020

Wonderful Course, Many thanks to the contributors especially Dan

By Noah P

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Sep 14, 2016

Excellent class, teacher, and material. Fun learning ML, thanks

By Jeroen J

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Sep 19, 2023

Very, very good course.

Note: I've used VS code instead of Emacs

By su

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May 24, 2023

Take your intermediate skills to the next level. Learned a lot!

By Merlinhool

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Sep 2, 2016

Excellent course! A great start to Programming Language Theory!

By anderson m

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Apr 25, 2023

Very good course. Good material and the professor is terrific.

By Saptarshi C

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Jan 7, 2017

Has been fantastic so far - hoping to purchase and complete it

By Li L

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Nov 19, 2016

Awesome courses, help you get close to functional programming.

By Ajay V

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Jun 22, 2021

Awesome concise introduction to functional programming in ML

By Enrico F

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Oct 14, 2019

Great course, better than many CS courses I had in university

By Thomas C

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Jun 10, 2018

A wonderful course for learning about functional programming.

By Hrushikesh N

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Nov 15, 2016

Perfectly good start for a person aspiring to be a programmer

By robin

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Sep 1, 2016

One of the more challenging and interesting CS MOOC out there

By David H

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May 24, 2021

Best course on functional programming on the entire internet