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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction To Swift Programming by University of Toronto

3.9
stars
1,423 ratings

About the Course

Introduction to Swift Programming is the first course in a four part specialization series that will provide you with the tools and skills necessary to develop an iOS App from scratch. By the end of this first course you will be able to demonstrate intermediate application of programming in Swift, the powerful new programming language for iOS. Guided by best practices you will become proficient with syntax, object oriented principles, memory management, functional concepts and more in programming with Swift. This course is unique in its dedication to teaching Swift programming. With new features and capabilities you will be at the forefront of writing iOS apps. Currently this course is taught using Swift 2. The team is aware of the release of Swift 3 and will be making edits to the course in time. Please be aware that at this time the instruction is entirely with Swift 2. Please note that to take part in this course (and the full specialization) it is required to have a Mac computer and, though not required, ideally an iPhone, iPod, or an iPad. NOTE: This course has been designed and tested (and content delivered) on a Mac. While we are aware of hacks and workarounds for running Mac in a virtual machine on windows we do not recommended a PC. We hope you have fun on this new adventure....

Top reviews

SI

Jan 13, 2016

The course seemed to be very easy, I'd say even disappointingly easy, but then, when I started the final assignment, I realized that I was wrong. And it was so much fun developing filters.

HU

Jan 30, 2016

This course, specifically the last week, really helps in gaining understanding of how the digital images are being processed on the back of a applications. Nice job tutors!

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201 - 225 of 384 Reviews for Introduction To Swift Programming

By Affa A

Jun 18, 2016

Nice course, with rather fast pace!

By Shabda R

Mar 15, 2016

Videos could be more comprehensive.

By 徐涌盛

Nov 13, 2017

swift version is a little outdated

By Shrey S

Mar 30, 2017

Great Course for learning Swift

By Han M

Dec 4, 2015

Good compact introduction.

By Aleksey A

Jan 18, 2018

Needs update to swift4

By panindra

Sep 28, 2015

Awesome basic course

By Konstantin S

Mar 12, 2019

Simple Base course

By Richar O C C

Mar 31, 2017

Excellent course

By Daniel V

Dec 22, 2015

Almost great!

By 祁祥威

Aug 2, 2020

Out of date.

By Roman S

Mar 28, 2017

Great intro

By Danish P

Dec 5, 2018

very Good

By Tianqi Z

Feb 12, 2016

Too easy.

By Edwin J

Jan 5, 2017

Awesome!

By sourabh r

Jan 13, 2019

good

By Hikmat T

Oct 27, 2015

L

By Deleted A

Feb 15, 2016

Far less staid than some of the more traditional academic teaching formats in this science field. I was surprised I actually anaged to get through the introductory module but by the end of the course I was less inclined to want to attempt the end of module project simply because the instructions did not really provided sufficient indicators that guided newcomers to the subject of programming but in this science field it seems that is the norm with many introductory programming courses.

Maybe the people teaching have forgotten what its like to start at the beginning and recall a time when they thought surely there is a better way in which to teach this subject that makes the connection between theory and practice and the relative interconnection much like bitesize stepping stones links a more plausible and achievable option for those unfamiliar in the field of computer science. Not sure why this aspect seems to fall short in CS but for some reason it does.

I should imagine this course for many people who are either familiar with the fundamentals of programming and/or aufait with CS concepts on the whole and have already acquired the necessary basic skill set / knowledge base of programming, will find the subject and teachings rather informative and a move forward in the development of programming languages as the format in writing programs does depict a much simpler approach when compared to other languages.

Sadly, for a complete beginner to CS this, in my opinion, fails to sufficiently guide or assist newcomers in building the confidence to later embark on a project that draws on the subject topics taught thus far and to that end its a bit of a shame as it tends to dampen your enthusiasm if you are interested in the field of computer science as that lack of clarification on what aspects relate to what factors does not become clear so when faced with the daunting task of the end of module project you may find yourself non-plussed wondering which topic relates to which task in the final project?

I am sure other people will be inclined to disagree with my opinion on this but this is, after all, just my opinion, after giving the subject taster a try, the end result for me, was that the teaching methods were good as they appeared more relaxed and format was offered in a far more enjoyable way of teaching/learning a subject that, I felt, attempted to invoke or entice people where an interest in CS had been sparked and was perhaps aiming to offer a route in which to build the foundations of a programming language but then by the final week it was a case of well we have thrown this information your way, its now up to you to decipher what you need to apply to the which part of the final project and is done so under the guise of problem solving.

The latter being a plausible concept I would find perhaps more applicable later on in the specialisation as you develop knowledge/skills. But to be incorporated into the very first module of this pathway it seems doing so is, what it seems like most introductory programming courses invoke, and, is quite a leap to embark upon especially without first being offered stepping stones sufficient enough to feel certain you have adequate understanding to be able to sift through the information provided and subsequently decide upon which aspects are relevant in order to attempt to accomplish the tasks set that ultimately form to complete the final project.

Its actually through being guided by the experts whose teachings highlight to newcomers through practical visual sessions where we actually begin to learn where these interconnections link between these chunks of informational topics - all of which form the essential fundamental building blocks - and in so doing, that perhaps perceived initial 'spoon fed' approach then enables a newcomer to build sufficient skills and knowledge to then be able to actually 'develop' their confidence. Without the essential basic foundational mixture how is it possible to engage newcomers enough for them to determine when they will then feel equipped to attempt a final project? This stepping stone approach is surely the most effective way to equip a person new to a subject field so they can then broaden their knowledge base. Alas, in CS it seems the falling flat on your face so to speak is a preferential approach to learning in this field of study.

Its such a shame these highly intellectual people who create these courses forget what its like to start at the very beginning and the time it takes and guidance needed in order for a person to be able to feel like they are ready to dive in and give a topic like this a whirl. Like I said, its only my opinion but this is where the interconnection and building of the knowledge base falls short at an early stage of development.

By Lionel C

Aug 18, 2016

An ok introduction to Swift Programming, but I can see people who do not have previous development experience struggling with this course. Also lecturers were virtually nonexistent on the forums to help with questions which is disappointing since it is a paid course which implies you are paying for their time and effort not just the certificate.

Best advice for people taking this course is to get through the material as early as possible and give yourself as much time as possible to work on the project, don't wait till the last week to work on it.

Would also suggest the following changes to improve the course and help people understand the material better:

1. Have a programming exercise to complete at the end of every week to prove you have understood the material taught, a quiz alone with 10 or less questions is not enough. The course ramps up way to quickly with the project if all you have been doing is following the videos, students should be practicing and proving they know the work far more often.

2. Provide a clearer project brief since it was clear many people did not understand all the requirements.

3. Provide a video of what the final project should do in general to make it even clearer.

Overall I didn't have a bad experience with the course, just disappointed that it was really bear bones, there were too few opportunities to prove your understanding, it was poorly managed and the lack of interaction from the lecturers a massive problem when they are being paid to help out, not just provide videos and forget about the students.

By Victor I

Jul 11, 2020

This course does walk you through the basics of Swift. However, I was disappointed that various steps along the way, the version of Swift was outdated. This was especially apparent in the last assignment, when the supporting provided code didn't compile.

Also, it took many days to get someone to review my assignment.

Bottom line: you will learn the basics, but you will be hampered by the Swift and Xcode incompatibilities. I'm not going to proceed with this series, and instead go with an alternate course.

By Chaning C

May 13, 2022

DO NOT CHOOSE THIS COURSE IF YOU ARE BEGINNER.

This course is Not for the Beginningers. Start with the second week, the course assumses the students have the background in CS without explaining all basic concepts of CS. And as many feedback said before, the version of syntax is super old and many things have changed. I am asking the customer services to quit this couse.

By Mark B

Apr 10, 2016

There are only a few hours of content across the five weeks. The whole course can be done in a single evening. However, if you try this starting from no programming experience it will likely be extremely hard to complete. Since the course has as a prerequisite that you can already code this shouldn't be an issue for anyone.

By GrantvS

Oct 1, 2015

A resource if your starting with Swift. Video quality is often poor. Examples are a bit too contrived. Generally, presentations should be better prepared, too much figuring things out during the video. Good choice of project for the practical.Many interesting coding practice tidbits along the way but needs polish.

By Lucas R A

Apr 8, 2016

I think its good that its given reference material for further readings, but this shouldn't exonerate you from explaining the details of the language, if I wanted to learn swift from apple's documentation I would be there right now, not here, if I'm watching your course its because I expect to learn it here.

By Martyna M

May 23, 2016

The videos are poorly done, and it's hard to follow with practicing in a Playground at the same time. Also, some of the optional material, is required for completing the assessment, which a bit unfair. The material covered in the videos is too basic to be able to apply the principles to a larger programme.