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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) by University of Michigan

4.8
stars
226,322 ratings

About the Course

This course aims to teach everyone the basics of programming computers using Python. We cover the basics of how one constructs a program from a series of simple instructions in Python. The course has no pre-requisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course. This course will cover Chapters 1-5 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. Once a student completes this course, they will be ready to take more advanced programming courses. This course covers Python 3....
Highlights
High quality instructor

(1484 Reviews)

Introductory course

(4203 Reviews)

Top reviews

GL

Feb 28, 2016

Excellent for a beginner!! Professor Severance follows a very smooth and efficient method of teaching that reduces anxiety and increases passion for learning!! Recommended to anyone starting Python!!!

DJ

Oct 19, 2017

Dr. Chuck has a special ability to teach programming to people who doesn't necessarily have programming background. This is rare among programming teachers, and shows that he is an excellent educator.

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376 - 400 of 10,000 Reviews for Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)

By sai g r

Jul 10, 2021

Programming for everybody (Getting started with Python), is a really good starter for a student interested in coding and wants to master in Python. This course introduces the basics of Python very well, with detailed explanation of the concepts, their applications and very well framed reviews and assignments. Videos and reading materials are put into nice small chunks, so that one does not feel the learning as heavy load. And the interviews with famous personalities, that they offer as bonus at the end of chapters, are really insightful and encourage & motivate students to be committed to their learning. Strongly encourage beginners in Python to have a look at this course. Thank you!!

By Sekti W

Oct 17, 2016

Amazing course, this course also provided video and text book, so i can learn really really fast. I though it's gonna be hard to learn, but after i red the text book and watch the video. This programming language really fast almost like Javascript, but better and the syntax is syntactic sugar. So during the course, i think the textbook and the video so coherent and clear. So as a student i really appreciated for the lesson about Python. Overall, this course really good. Especially, if you don't have any experiences on programming before, but if you already had it, you should take because it's gonna open up your mind to python and others programming languages. 5 Stars for this course

By Carter T

Apr 15, 2020

The flow of information in this course was very easily digestible and left me wanting more with each successive lesson. The segmentation of lectures and quick turnaround from didactic to hands-on learning facilitated my continued engagement. Regarding the instructor, I really enjoyed Charles's presentation style - he didn't try to impress me with his knowledge and never went too fast through the material, but more than that - he also sprinkled in some bonus topics and code features that someone already familiar with coding and algorithmic logic would be able to pick up on. I am thoroughly looking forward to the next series of courses as I continue to build my foundation in Python.

By Niranjan K

Sep 2, 2023

This course was just the right one for me, because I went through a lot of courses on Edx and Coursera but this one specifically by Dr. Charles Severance is perfect for beginners. in this course you get introduced to the basics of python programming, such as variables, constants, reserved keywords, conditionals, loops or iterations, functions. This course just focuses on the main control flow of python programming and the next course in the specialization "Python for Everybody" Dr. Charles explores and explains the data structures to get a better picture of python as a language I would highly recommend this to anyone irrespective of their background to get started with python.

By Richard N

Jun 25, 2016

I tried to learn Python 2 years ago. But I was naive and studied other courses at the same time. During this time I was also working night shifts. I had to quit all courses when I found a new job and they never amounted to anything. I am so happy that I now have found Coursera and this is my first course at Coursera. I have really enjoyed it and it has had a nice level for beginners and smart exercises which make the student really learn the skillsets previously explained in the chapter.

I would also like to thank you for releasing the book in ibooks format. This was my first time trying out that format and it made the whole experience so much better and easier.

Thanks again!

By Tanveer A

Jan 30, 2022

I just completed my first course of Programming for Everybody specialization which is Getting Started with Python it is amazing for beginners and the topic included was all concerned with basics which cover the control flow of the program the instructor was also very good and also there are bonus videos which are very informational about the Python and its history (How it was developed by the continuous struggle of developer) and also there is an interview of one of the co-founders of Coursera which is also very informative. overall it's an amazing experience of learning from sir Charles Russell Severance. Thanks to the organizers of the course and the whole team behind this.

By Maame A A

Feb 15, 2021

Dr. Charles Severance and his teaching assistants are the best. Before this course I had no idea what coding in general entailed but I was definitely curious. I tried taking some C courses but the lecturers seemed to assume students already had some kind of foundation even though the course said it was for beginners. Dr. Chuck's class was totally different! He really took time to make all the concepts easily understandable even to the layman. Oh and he has such a glowing sense of humor lol. To my fellow beginners, if you've never written a line of code(yes not even "Hello World") but are interested in learning this is the best place to start! I promise you won't regret it. :)

By 陈镇铧

Aug 17, 2020

I really appreciated what I have learned from Dr Charles Severance regarding the Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python). I'm also thankful that I can have a chance to broaden my knowledge from the University of Michigan for the course. I'm truly grateful that I can achieve my accomplishment by completing an online course during this time of COVID-19. Thank you very much. For those of you who have yet to take up this course, I sincerely urged you, from the bottom of my heart, do not hesitate to take up the course. If I have known this course a couple of years ago, I will definitely take up this course without any second thought. See you all in the near future.

By Shaun A

Dec 14, 2015

This course (for me) was like learning to understand Shakespeare. Though I know how to read, I had difficulty comprehending the language behind the poetry.

Learning the concepts and thought-process in programming was difficult for me. Though I have had a dozen programming teachers, and have read a dozen "Teach Yourself..." programming books, Professor Severance flipped that switch in my head to illuminate the root of those concepts and theories with regards to programming. I am more confident now than I have ever been. Thank you for this course, and thank you for making it and the materials open so that I may share it with others who are interested in learning to program.

By Nicole

Dec 16, 2015

Very good course for anyone who has struggled to understand how to program, especially in a self-directed/self-motivated way. This course taught by Dr. Chuck was broken down into concise simple sections that kept me interested, and I could follow along easily, with just the right amount of complexity in the quizzes and chapter exercises, so as not to discourage me.

I've tried to learn computer programming using Java (inside & outside of a tertiary environment) with very limited success, but switched to learning python because it seemed more intuitive. So while i'm not a complete "novice" to programming, this course had the "Goldilocks Effect" for me.

"Just right" :D

By Elinor W

Feb 12, 2018

This class is great! The material, while dense, is explained at length by the professor, and the lectures do a good job of complementing the information in the provided course textbook. In addition to the professor being very down-to-earth and thorough, the mentors are incredibly responsive and helpful when asked for assistance in the forums. My fellow students are also very engaged, and it's a good choice on the part of the course organizers to get us to grade each other's work for the first (optional) assignment. The logic of programming can be very dense and forbidding, but through this course, you will feel like you have a lot of support in learning how to use it.

By Syed M A R

Jan 19, 2021

A great introductory course! The instructor is so fun; He does a great job to make the student comfortable and relaxed in the beginning. The course is designed excellently to make sure that too much is not loaded on the student too early. The book and slides are very helpful. For the first chapter, I read the book before the lectures and it helped greatly. After the first chapter, I decided to skim quickly through the book and slides of next four chapters and go straight to the quizzes and assignments, and as Dr. Chuck promised in the start: it helped me in understanding the Why of going through all the stages of the programming. All in all, an excellent experience!

By Amr M E

Dec 15, 2019

I am an engineer and I studied one programming course for a different language in university and I totally hated it. I thought to give it a try again and I found this course really simple for beginners even with no programming experience. Prof. Charles breaks down everything to make sure the message is properly conveyed and understood. Great teacher! I definitely know more about programming now compared to before the course. I am planning to continue the rest of the Python courses.

I think it is a good idea though to add an extra section (or recommend external resources) for more exercises after each chapter in the course for students who are eager to practice more.

By Chiazam U

Sep 18, 2019

Loved this course. I especially like the active transcript feature where you can go back to a specific part of the video by clicking on sentences below the video player window- this is really cool. I also like the arrangement of buttons around a lecture video - it's very intuitive. The "Save A Note" feature works very seamlessly (on PC). You just click the button during the part of the video that you want to save and it adds a snapshot of the video to your list of thumbnails. Lastly, I appreciate the progress bars for each week, and the Overview - these do a good job of showing your overall progress so you know where you stand at any given time. Very well designed.

By Mahmoud H M S

Jan 15, 2020

It's very very good course. I really advise all people who want to learn PYTHON to get this course now and start with it. This course is very organized, and structured well for learners , an excellent lecturer, also good practices for all .Thank You very much COURSERA . You all have to enroll this course if you start to learn PYTHON, prepare yourself, and get into this for the future. I hope you all doing well and listen to my advise, it's for free, and you will realize that after doing it. I have to thank Dr. Chuck, he is my best lecturer of this course and this field that I have been met, so take a look on this course on COURSERA, and you will love it

Sincerely,

By Gareth C

Nov 20, 2017

As a beginner(computer illiterate) in computer science, I had tried pretty hard in searching for the most suitable Python learning materials, but it turned out the contents I found online were nothing close to this program. This course is carefully designed to be a well organized step by step Python journey, it focuses on the basics, the fundamentals and explains the logic behind each arguments, conditionals, variables, etc. If this is your first time learning how to program and you certainly want to have a clear structure of what is going on with each code you type in and why you are typing it, I will recommend you to try it out. Get ready to say "Hello Python"!!

By SIRAPURAM R R

Jan 24, 2024

It is a funtastic introductory course. While it teaches the basics of coding, it also shows how different people have contributed to the development of computers through interesting History bites. The history bites are even more fantastic. The people in those videos have a great vision for humanity in general. They want to help people in the ways they like. Dr. Charles Severance may come off as self-centered in a video but not at all in the other videos. Also, I usually have a bit of trouble learning. Charles Severance's explanations make my learning difficulties seem acceptable and instill a little faith that I can learn things even if I do it extremely slowly.

By Paramasivan D

Jan 4, 2019

I was a C Programming enthusiast about 12 years ago. Over the years, I had not got a lot of opportunity to code in C (I had been using only ProC rarely, PL/SQL and Unix Shell). This course was very exciting from the beginning. I always wanted to attend classes of professors like Charles. The Idea becomes far fetched when you have a day job to do. I was so excited from the beginning and completing the course and seeing the certificate was icing on the cake.

Coursera is a big gift for people like me who wanted to pursue higher education, but could not leave their day jobs due to personal commitment.

Thank you to Coursera, University of Michigan and Charles Severance

By Paul H

Oct 27, 2015

This was a great intro for anyone who has never programmed and very well articulated. Concepts clearly explained. Giving it 5 stars since the effort that has gone into making these videos is poorly understood by people who have not been in lecturing positions - I salute you ! Having been a self taught programmer from the mid 80's on BASIC with Apple 2E's, it is a breath of fresh air seeing this kind of material on the Internet. I had to dig around in libraries which had books (yes paper!). If the youth could rather spend time exploiting this fountain of knowledge instead of hacking away on FPS and Online gaming then we could see some really cool stuff happen :).

By MOHAMMED F P K

May 15, 2020

ery good introduction to basic programming. Very easy for beginners in python who have already some programming background ,Dr. Chuck was so interesting and he has an extra ordinary ideas to capture or grasp things from him without making any doubt on any topics,This course is actually dealing with the basics of Python

I can say that this course will make worthwhile for who have actually going to starts with python

. The pace was perfect, it was not so long that it was daunting to finish and it did not take too much weekly free time either. Despite this, I was still able to learn a great deal and am still motivated to continue with the rest of the specialization.

By Rahul K S

Oct 29, 2016

This was my first course which I took and completed. It took me 2-3 days to complete this course. It was a great experience and I would definitely continue with the specialisation. I really liked the cool and fundamental nature of Dr. Chuck. I really enjoyed the course. His idea of putting web series interview was awesome. it provides a great depth of exposure. I very strongly feel that the most enjoyed moment with my course were my coding assignments. I request the course staff to increase those assignments by 4 times. It was the great experience and I really appreciate the effort.

Thanks Everyone for making this happen

Regards,

Rahul Kumar Sharma

Bangalore, India

By Alon H

Jul 14, 2018

I have just finished the course. As a junior data analyst (with some knowledge in SQL), python is probably one of the best languages to learn. I had a little background in programming, and worked with computers for a few years, so I feel like learning python is a good place to start. As for the course - I think it was a great platform for me to establish my basic python. It is also my first online course, and I enjoyed this way of studying very much. The course is a great fit for anyone who wants to start developing some sort of skill in programming. I might not know how the other MOOC courses in python are, but I would definitely recommend taking this one.

By José A A G

Mar 14, 2021

I really enjoyed this course, even though for unfortunate personal reasons I had to quit halfway through, I finally managed to complete this course and I am looking forward for part 2.

This course was precisely what I was looking for when I was asking myself how to begin with python. Dr. Charles Severance manages to resume and clearly explain the basic concepts of python, and the exercises and quizzes really helps to apply the knowledge.

Thank you to Dr Charles, and the University of Michigan for offering this opportunity of learning! I will continue to study and improve my programming skills. I am looking forward for more courses with such quality as this one

By Kausik D

Apr 17, 2018

I have audited this course, hence submitting or quizzes and doing assignments were not allowed unless you are ready to pay for this course :-)

Dr. Chuck has an amazing teaching style, you will never feel bored, you will always be kept engaged with the easy to understand course-materials.

The course is properly designed for the new programmers in python language and is quite easy to learn and digest. Great for the beginners.

If you are already a good programmer of some language other than python then this course may not give you much extra in terms of programming but yes learning from Dr. Chuck is a great life-time experience. Thank You for the amazing course.

By Deleted A

Nov 12, 2015

I've started and failed to finish, even after two weeks, many on-line MOOCs and thought maybe it wasn't my style. This one has given me hope I can set up an environment and participate in a class that goes at a reasonable pace. I enjoy the teaching style and that the lectures are designed for people without a lot of (if any) CS or computing background, which is great for me. I come from the biology field and always wanted to learn programming but never gave it enough time or effort. This class has helped me come a long way from quitting course after course, to now believe that I can finish an entire on line class because it is meeting me at my level.