Computing in Python I: Fundamentals and Procedural Programming

I have programmed - without taking any course - in Python 2.x more than 10 years ago (and I forgot most of it). I am interested in data science and was looking for a Python course as a first step up. I was also looking at an introductory programming course suitable for my kids; Python is perfect for that.

I have followed all 4 "Computing in Python"- courses, and I feel ready now to take on more advanced Python courses or books.

Each course is divided in 4 chapters, each chapter ends with an "exam", the course ends with a final exam. Each course took about a week to complete (+- 3 hours/evening and 2 full days in the weekend (+- 8 hours per day). (I had to hurry, the courses were about to get archived.). The programming exercises and debugging take most of the time and are at the same time the most valuable to grok everything.
There is a SmartBook that is provided as a PDF. Next time I would read the PDF instead of viewing the video's, that would have been faster.

The teaching is well structured and the programming problems are fun to make: they are quite basic at the beginning and get more challenging afterwards. You will make so many exercises that programming in Python really becomes an automation and the exercises never become boring.

I have advised my kids (they are almost or around 20 year) to take the courses.
I recommend the courses.

Outstanding introduction to Python. About 6 or 7 years ago I completed the MIT Intro to Computing using Python, but in the intervening years my skill set has gotten quite rusty and Python 3 has displaced Python 2, so I'm audited this course as a refresher before exploring programming and computer science more generally. It took about 4 days to get through this first unit in the GT sequence and now I am going to work my way, pr'ly more slowly, through the remaining three.

As compared to the MIT version, ca. 2014, this course is more inviting, that one is more inspiring. This course welcomes learners without the math background that the MIT version assumes rather casually. Fluency in calculus and comfort with a mathematical approach to problem solving is part of the DNA of all MIT courses. That said, this course is in no way watered down or lacking in rigor. Its origins lie in the introductory Computer Science course at Georgia Tech, which is, after all, one of the country's leading computer science schools.

I am deeply grateful to Prof. David Joyner and all the contributors who made this excellent course possible.

I have embarked on my self-learning programming journey some time ago. Over time, the fundamental concepts of programming became second nature to me, and I started taking them for granted. While I knew "how" to use these concepts, I often didn't fully grasp "why" they were designed or defined in certain ways.

Enrolling in this course has been a revelation. It has filled the gaps in my programming foundation that I wasn't even fully aware of. Prof. David Joyner's explanations were incredibly clear and easy to understand, making everything click for me. I can now confidently say that I have a solid foundation in programming, thanks to this course.

I had lots of questions or there were errors that occurred while I was going through the lessons and during the practice tests. But there is no support at all. No way to ask questions and actually get a response. The discussion board posting was completely useless since no one ever responds to your questions. I fill out the surveys but nothing is ever done to address the problems or answer my questions even though I provided my contact info as requested. In the activities and on the practice test you are asked to perform tasks that were never taught in the video or in the book. For example how to calculate square root in python, manipulating/calculating date/time formats by importing the math module or datetime module, switching numbers between binary and decimal form, etc. I had to end up googling how to solve some of the problems and even the solutions I found were way more complicated than anything that was taught. How do you expect someone to solve a problem when you haven't covered the necessary elements for them to successfully do so. You cant get to C if the directions there were never covered during A or B.

My goal with this course was to gain some basic programming skills in Python. This course has an academic bottom-up approach, lots of theory. I used external resources such as Head First Python, Learn Python the Hard Way, and Crash Course in Python, all of these offer more useful study aids (flash cards to help memorize truth tables, as one example). They also offer more practical problems which I found to be more useful for grasping the concepts, and being able to apply them in a meaningful way.
There are typographical and grammatical structure errors in some of the online problems, this made it more frustrating as a beginner. Some of the problems are also poorly explained. Over all this course was very simple, I learned quite a bit more through the external resources and the time spent on other sites, even reading the Python documentation instead of relying on the SmartBook.
The format of the SmartBook only allows viewing a page or two at a time, instead of being able to review previous material or scan ahead to get an idea about how the concepts are being applied through the course.

This course is fantastic for picking up Python basics, and it’s packed with practice exercises. By the end, you'll have a strong handle on Python syntax.

I can't stress enough how great this course is for anyone eager to learn Python. The material is laid out in a way that's super easy to grasp, even if you're a total beginner. There are many well-thought-out practice exercises, so you get loads of hands-on experience. What makes this course stand out, though, is the professor. They're amazing at breaking down tricky concepts into simple, easy-to-understand bits, making learning effective and fun. Their enthusiasm for teaching is evident in every lecture, creating an engaging and motivating learning environment. If you want to build a solid foundation in Python, this course and its top-notch professor are the way to go. Highly recommended!

I agree with many others that, overall, the course does a wonderful job of outlining the theory of programming from the bottom up in a concise, clear and detailed way, which absolutely suits my learning style. However, where I quickly became frustrated was in some of the practice problems and test problems towards the end of the course, the user is asked to solve problems that (I felt) were way beyond the level of difficulty taught in the course (for example, somehow knowing how to change a date format from 12 hours to 24 hours to determine determine a due date, convert integers to binary and back again, etc.)

I'm all for taking concepts taught and applying them to novel situations - this is how you learn; however, it should be clear which concepts are needing to be applied (at least early on). It is also frustrating that, with the coding problems toward the end of the course, they remove the "sample answers," drop down so you can't even compare your solution to others, or at least get the answer if you're stumped and need to move on. There is absolutely no support if you are stuck on a problem, you have to consult Google/Reddit (which is often unhelpful at best, unkind at worst).

I believe this program is a good jumping off point, but I am reluctant to pay the $150 due to the lack of academic support.

This is probably the most accessible introductory programming course for absolute beginners. At the same time, it's not too easy or watered-down like many other online courses. It covers the topics in great details, has lots of practice exercises and programming assignments, and also has a freely accessible book (optional). Highly recommended if you are new to programming.
The course is the first one of a four-course sequence, so it doesn't cover a lot of ground. But it does cover the topics with enough depth for an introductory programming course.
David Joyner is a terrific instructor. The videos are short, to-the-point, and almost all video sections are followed by review text materials, quizzes, and programming exercises. There are smart-book exercises at the end of each chapter and graded exercises at the end of most chapters. There are also extra course practice problems, a practice exam, and a timed final exam at the end of the course. The programming exercises can be done online. The course uses an external tool where you write and run your code and then the score is automatically recorded in edX. You can also install Python 3 on your computer, write the codes locally, and then submit your code to the external tool.
The only issue I had with this course is that all these different types of materials and exercises can seem a bit too much at first. But in the end, I think the abundance of practice materials are extremely helpful for learning and remembering the course content.
Again, if you are new to programming, start with this course without looking further.