Computing in Python III: Data Structures

This is a great course to take for those relatively or completely unfamiliar with the data structures being discussed in the course language (for me in 2018-19, it was Python 3). Though I was somewhat familiar with strings, lists, file input/output, and dictionaries in Python already, I was very out of practice, and the course still proved challenging for me. I learned several new ways to manipulate and implement these data structures.

The lectures and Smartbook (online interactive textbook) go together nicely, and there is plenty of room to develop your own optimal method of learning, whether that entails all lecture, all reading, some of both, or a combination of those, exercises in the course, and information from other professor-recommended websites.

I imagine that for people who are new to programming and/or computing (but have completed the prior units in CS1301), this course would be quite challenging at times, but rewarding overall. Even for those with a bit of prior exposure to data structures, this course would be challenging and worth your time. Several coding problems absolutely stumped me at first, but with debugging and reflection, the answers came, and proved surprisingly simple in execution. The process of developing solutions to actual coding problems can be frustrating, but can also prove entertaining, as you come up with strategies on your own that you continually perfect through trial and error.

On the note of coding problems, one criticism I have is that the problems you solve in this course are pretty small and discrete; they usually do not build off of one another directly. It would be nice to be required to use a function you have already written in your new code, as you might in some projects. This is not to say that the problems are not challenging. But you will have to come up with ideas for projects on your own, or find them elsewhere. The knowledge of data structures you will learn here lends itself well to creating your own programs that actually do things that are useful to you (e.g., games, calendars, calculators, unit converters). I recommend doing this for extra practice and fun (It may sound like work, but it can be fun to build your own program for your use).

For those hoping to learn programming for fun, this course would likely be a great choice. For those intending to apply programming in some kind of work, research or academic endeavor (me), this course is also a good choice, but keep in mind that the required material only partially delves into the variety of ways you can use these data structures. I recommend utilizing the supplemental material generously, reading the documentation and using other coding practice websites. Not all of the outside information will directly apply to this particular course, but it will help you understand some of the tougher topics (e.g., scope, mutability), provide some alternate techniques to use in the course, and provide other knowledge and tricks to keep in your back pocket to help you have an edge here or elsewhere. For example, from this course, I learned the valuable essentials of using dictionaries, but in reading and practicing supplemental material, I learned other ways to implement and manipulate them with ease, and got closer to learning what they really are, "under the hood".

If you want to learn how to use data structures in the course programming language, this course might be for you!
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NOTE: At time of writing (Summer 2019), auditing this course for free does not include full problem sets for each chapter; to get access to these useful problem sets, you MUST PURCHASE the verified course track for a fee.

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.

My goal was to learn how to program in Python. This course series continues with a primarily academic exercise focus - too much theory. The textbook skims briefly over subjects as do many of the exercises, without in-depth explanation or sufficient programming practice. There are more practical (and intensive) methods for learning the material which are better suited to actually applying the concepts.
In order to get the most out of this course I practiced coding through sites such as exercism.io and coderbyte, as well as studying other texts. For this particular level I found that the Head First Python book was much more instructive and useful - "doing it to get it".
The SmartBook format actually got in the way for me. Instead of being able to review previous chapters, or scan ahead when the course made specific reference to future material, it forces a fixed format of only a page or two at a time.
The videos followed the material in the textbook, there is not so much extra explanation to be found there which was disappointing.
I finished the course in less than two weeks, spending on average 6 hours a day - many of those hours with external resources - reading and practice. I am able to write simple programs now, primarily due to this extra effort.

This class really hit the sweet spot for me in terms of content and learning. It continues to build on the 1st and 2nd classes from this 4 class program and it definitely builds on the material you learned in the earlier classes. The abundance of sample problems (I am taking the class for a certificate) was extensive and even more than I found necessary to practice the material. My only bit of advice is to be wary/careful with the final exam because of the 2 hour time limit. I ran out of time (similar to the 2nd Computing in Python class) but only barely. The final was less overwhelming this time but I still wish I had a bit more time to work through the problems. Its critical to note that so long as you complete all the "homework" problems you don't need a perfect grade on the final to still feel you've done well in the class.