Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python is one the best courses I have done online when it comes to starting your journey into the field of computer science and programming. I surely recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn computer science. Here is the course introduction video:

 

Cost: Free ($49 for Verified Certificate)

Though all the courses on edx are free to watch and learn and you have complete access to every quiz and problem sets, for getting a verified certificate you one needs to pay a small amount which varies from course to course.

 

Time: 1-2 hours/day

Lynda.com Online Training Videos

Alternate Courses:

Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in PythonPython Basics TrainingUp and Running with PythonAutomate the Boring Stuff with Python ProgrammingThe Python Mega Course: Build 10 Real World Applications

 

Instructors:

Eric Grimson (Will cover most of the course), John Guttag, Ana Bell

 

Sequel Course:

Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science (6.00.2x MITx)

 

My review:

I would say one should go for this course without any hesitation, and if you are complete newbie to programming then this should definitely be your choice, but if you have done some programming in the past and you have any programming language choice then you can go for according courses. If C is your preferred language then you cannot find anything better than Introduction to Computer Science (CS50 by HarvardX), I have also done this course in the past, and I loved it, I will be doing a review for CS50 on a complete new article but I owuld definately suggest this course, but if you are not a big fan of the language C, or of the syntax’s being used in C then you are exactly like me and 6.00.1x is what you should go for. This course uses python language and the latest session for this course covers python 3.5, the one I did in 2015 covered 2.7, though there is not much difference in both the version one can easily migrate from 2.7 to 3.5.

The things which you will learn in this course are:

  • Introduction to basic computation notion.
  • Python programming language from very basic to intermediate level.
  • Some Basic algorithms
  • Data Structure
  • Algorithmic complexity

The Course runs for a total of 8 Weeks, starting from the introduction to computation video to Trees (a course covering data structure) video. The Course also consists of Problems Sets, of total there are 7 Problem sets, a Quiz after Week 4 and a Final Exam in the end, after Week 8. Out of 7 Psets only the best 6 are considered for the grading purpose, of total 40% weightage is given to the Psets, 25% to the quiz which is conducted after Week 4, 25% to the final exam, and the remaining 10% is given to the fingers, these are the quizzes and programming questions which appear in the middle of lecture videos, of total there are 13 fingers.

Just to make the above data clear here is an image of my report card:

 

Handouts:

I have mentioned in the beginning that one has to spend 1-2 hours/day, and I mean it, most of the online courses are not very tedious and one don’t have to actually give a lot of time to the course, but the learning curve for this course changes drastically and to cope up, one needs to give couple of hours almost daily to the course.

The good thing about the latest session is they are offering handouts for every single video, the handouts offered by MIT contains all the .py files which has been covered in the particular video, a pdf file which contains the theory covered in the video. Unfortunately this thing was not offered when I took the course, so I made my own notes, I will be sharing the same at the bottom of this article.

 

Recommended Book:

Though this course is so awesome that one does not really need any book, but still MIT recommends a book written by John V. Guttag, the name of the book is Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python (Book). I was not able to find any link to the free version of this book in the latest session but when I did the course it was available, so I am sharing the PDF version of the book, you can download it at the bottom of the article.

Personally I think a hard copy of a book is very handy, and can be used as a reference when needed. I will recommend few books, personally I have hard copy of Learn Python the hard way and Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python, Learn Python The Hard Way is awesome and one should go for it.

The Books I recommend to start learning Computer Science and Programming are:

**Clicking on any of the book will redirect you to your local amazon store.

 

Verified Certificate:

If anyone of you is willing to have a look at the verified certificate for this course, since I completed the course and received one, here is what is looks like:

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Introduction to Computer Science and Programming using Python solutions:

I am sharing link to my github repository where I have uploaded all the solution to the Coding Problems, found in lectures, problem sets, quiz and final exam. I do not encourage anyone to use my solution to pass their exams but to use it only for the purpose of reference when stuck somewhere.

Introduction-To-Computer-Science-And-Programming-Using-Python-6.0.0.1x Solution.

 

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python Notes:

**The file available to download is much clear and visible due to larger file size.
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python Notes (Small)

 

 

 

I want to make this blog a platform for the learners to find best resources and Online Courses available for particular technologies, So I request you all to please share any new resources you know of and will be helpful for everyone, in the comment section below and I will add the same in the article.

 

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