Computing in Python IV: Objects & Algorithms

Georgia Institute of Technology via edX

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Details

Go to class

Provider

edX
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

$149.00 Certificate Available
Duration & workload

5 weeks long, 9-10 hours a week
Sessions
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Part of

Introduction to Python Programming

5.0

Overview

Complete your introductory knowledge of computer science with this final course on objects and algorithms. Now that you've learned about complex control structures and data structures, learn to develop programs that more intuitively leverage your natural understanding of problems through object-oriented programming. Then, learn to analyze the complexity and efficiency of these programs through algorithms. In addition, certify your broader knowledge of Introduction to Computing with a comprehensive exam.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to write programs in Python that leverage your more natural understanding of data structures by creating objects to represent the structures you work with most often. For example, if you were creating a class roster application, you'll learn how to create an object representing a student's name, ID number, and attendance record. Then, you'll be able to create applications that leverage sorting and searching algorithms to sort that roster alphabetically, search for a particular student, and evaluate the efficiency of both those operations.

Structurally, the course is comprised of several parts. Instruction is delivered via a series of short (2-3 minute) videos. In between those videos, you'll complete both multiple choice questions and coding problems to demonstrate your knowledge of the material that was just covered. These exercises count for 20% of your grade. Then, after each major chapter, you'll complete a problem set of collected, more challenging problems. These count for 40% of your grade. Finally, you'll complete a final course exam, which counts for the remaining 40% of your grade.

Syllabus

Chapter 1. Objects. Working with instances of complex data types or defining your own, like creating a class to represent a video game character, a class syllabus, or an item for sale.

Chapter 2. Algorithms. Creating complex code for searching in large lists or sorting lists of data, and analyzing code for its complexity.

Chapter 3. Course Recap. A comprehensive review of the Xseries as a whole, leading into the final exam.

Taught by

David Joyner

Charts

#1 in Subjects / Computer Science / Algorithms and Data Structures

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 95 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Computing in Python IV: Objects & Algorithms

Wim Leys @KeroMar

Wim Leys completed this course, spending 35 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.

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...

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.
Troy Dunton @troydunton

Definitely the best course I've taken on Python programming so far. It's costly compared to some other online course, but I think it provides an experience much closer to taking a university course, so it's cheap in comparison to that.

The real value is the sheer volume of interesting programming problems you get to tackle. Also, they have a really good auto-grader, so you're able to write everything from scratch each time, which really builds your programming knowledge. I've done other courses where you're just updating sections of the code at a time, and the result is that, when it comes time to tackle more challenging programs, you just aren't ready.
Anonymous

This was an excellent course that has left me with a confident understanding of the basics of Python, as well as a solid introductory knowledge of computing as a subject. I really enjoyed learning from the professor because he explained each concept in...

This was an excellent course that has left me with a confident understanding of the basics of Python, as well as a solid introductory knowledge of computing as a subject. I really enjoyed learning from the professor because he explained each concept in a clear, informative way. The interactive coding assignments helped me practice the content I was learning, and was well tailored to test and build on the skills I learned through the video lectures.

I appreciate how the course avoids focusing in on just Python alone, and instead broadens the lessons to apply to computing as a whole. That means that if you are learning Python as a gateway language to other more complex languages, this course is a good place to start because it teaches computing concepts more thoroughly than just how they apply in Python.

I also really appreciate how easy it is to give feedback. The high production value and general refinement seem to come as a result of attention to student reception and experiences.

I think this course would be pretty accessible to someone with little-to-no prior experience in programming, but it also is not too boring in the early chapters for those who do know a thing or two about coding. This course is definitely worth a try.
Anonymous

I finished the intro to python programming professional certificate and thought it was a great program. In particular, it seems great for those to new to python as it really builds a solid foundation. I don't have a cs background and learned python outside of academia. I liked that the course felt like it contained more CS principles. Even though I came in with a decent amount of experience, I found that I learned quite a bit. I think it's great to have frequent coding exercises (e.g., it seems like most videos/tabs in the class have one). The sandbox is nice, too, though it's easy enough to mess around on Google Colab or a Jupyter notebook.
Yilin Lu

I completed all 4 courses in the series. As someone new to programming, I really appreciate the professor's incremental approach. The short deep dive videos followed immediately with coding exercises made it possible for me to absorb & understand the...

I completed all 4 courses in the series.

As someone new to programming, I really appreciate the professor's incremental approach. The short deep dive videos followed immediately with coding exercises made it possible for me to absorb & understand the information fully. The conceptual videos are also really well done - Professor Joyner would often illustrate the concepts by incrementally running through the code in the video while highlighting the new concepts graphically in play. Basically, you get taught how to read code before expecting to write code and solve problems.

The coding exercises are really well thought out and progressively build on-top of each other as the lessons proceed. I believe each course in the series had over 200 exercises, which meant I completed nearly 800 Python code challenges at completion.
Anonymous

It's a great introduction to Python. I don't like to watch lectures for more than 10 minutes and I don't fully grasp material from reading. This class didn't make you watch any really long lectures(10 minutes max) and the reading material wasn't long(15-20...

It's a great introduction to Python. I don't like to watch lectures for more than 10 minutes and I don't fully grasp material from reading. This class didn't make you watch any really long lectures(10 minutes max) and the reading material wasn't long(15-20 pages per chapter). The practice problems were perfect for applying the concepts that were taught in the lecture videos and reading. I think repetition is the key to really understanding something and the practice problems were just what I needed to apply the concepts I learned in the course material. David made the lectures interesting for a topic that is pretty dry. The only complaint I have is David's joke attempts. It's alright though because what he lacks in comedic ability, he more than makes up for in programming knowledge.
Anonymous

I started this program(4 courses) with absolutely zero knowledge of programming or coding. Now, after completing this program, I am very confident of my basic understanding of Python and programming as a whole. I give my credit to the intelligent design...

I started this program(4 courses) with absolutely zero knowledge of programming or coding. Now, after completing this program, I am very confident of my basic understanding of Python and programming as a whole. I give my credit to the intelligent design of this program. It does not rush and the instructor keeps repeating important or tricky ideas in multiple videos over the course. It not only teaches you syntax, but also develops your basic understanding of how code executes with multiple exercises. After every video, there is an excercise. Either mcq or a coding problem. Then after each unit there is a problem set of around 20 coding problems. 24 practice coding problems, 2 practice tests, lastly, a timed test. There is also a smartbook which contains even more exercises!

In short, this program makes sure that you learn with practice and repetition. I highly recommend this.
Anonymous

This is the best course on programming I've ever took. Plain and simple.

It has a great structure and a lot of practice (like a LOT). And when I say practice, I mean exercises that really engage you. These are more like self-contained mini-programming projects. You learn by doing which is the most effective way of learning. Moreover, you do not only learn how to do things. You learn WHY you should do them one way or another (which is not always covered in other courses).
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I have taken this course, as well as the previous 3 courses to complete the GTx CS1301xIV Computing in Python. This is the first course I have taken online, enjoyed and completed. The course itself is well structured, with a book in pdf format, good,...

I have taken this course, as well as the previous 3 courses to complete the GTx CS1301xIV Computing in Python.

This is the first course I have taken online, enjoyed and completed. The course itself is well structured, with a book in pdf format, good, short videos and explanations and hundreds of code snippets to practice on in the sandbox. There is also the online intelligent book with questions to work through.

Although I have a programming background, I haven't programmed for decades and python was new to me. I feel I have learnt the basic structure, and more importantly, learnt how to continue learning and how to pull in further libraries and use them in my future code.

Suggestions for further improvement... Module IV ( compared to I,II and III) feels somewhat incomplete. There are some typos in programs which i assume will be cleaned up in the future.

Definitely recommend for someone to embark on a python voyage!
Anonymous

I audited the class because I am currently a broke graduate, but the teaching alone was amazing. Many courses say they are for beginners and you realise pretty quickly that they assume you know certain things. David Joyner does not do that at all, he explains every single terminology and repeats them throughout the course. I would 100 per cent recommend this course to any and everyone, and if you have the money to have the full experience of this course, PLEASE DO IT!!!
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I finished this course, and the CS1301 Xseries as a whole. It gives a great overview of all concepts of programming, after the course, you are capable of going further in any area of programming. The language python is great for beginners, it is quite...

I finished this course, and the CS1301 Xseries as a whole. It gives a great overview of all concepts of programming, after the course, you are capable of going further in any area of programming.
The language python is great for beginners, it is quite intuitive, and can help you get into programming, and maybe move to another (maybe more complex) language if you need to in the future.

On the material itself, there are videos with exercises accompanying them. The videos are very clear, the instructor takes the time to explain everything without skipping over any parts. If you already know some of it, you can get right to the exercises to check your knowledge. If you are new to a concept however, the exercises are a great way to check you understand it. In addition to problems directly related to knowledge and concepts, there are programming exercises with realistic problems, like coding a program which tells you where you can get food with the money you have or one which looks in a database to find what football team has scored the greatest amount of points during the season. Coding exercises are also a great plus to get into programming and start coding as soon as you learnt the concepts.

All in all, a course I would gladly recommend for someone wanting to get into programming, it'll give you all the knowledge you need to start making your own programming projects or get into higher levels of programming with other courses
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

This course and professional certificate as a whole has been excellent. David Joyner, the instructor, is really good at explaining concepts that can be very confusing in a simple and understandable way. I think the series was really solid as a whole,...

This course and professional certificate as a whole has been excellent. David Joyner, the instructor, is really good at explaining concepts that can be very confusing in a simple and understandable way. I think the series was really solid as a whole, but I do feel like the last chapter (Objects & Algorithms) was rushed a little bit. It feels like whoever made this series started to get tired and lose focus towards the end. I also noticed that the deeper you dive into the series, the more and more weird grammar mistakes and auto-grader errors you will find in the problem sets, which is all further evidence of how rushed the course became towards the end. But if you put all these minor disruptions aside, this course is extremely underrated and underrecognized. It is truly one of the best introductions you can get to programming. It gets the difficulty spot on, it is easy-normal for the most part, but can get very challenging towards the end. And you get an incredible amount of practice problems to make sure that the things you learned are sticking in your head. It also does a very good job at exposing you to several areas of computing and programming so that you can have an idea of where to go once you are finished. The only major thing that I feel like was missing was a big capstone project at the end. But considering how beginner-level and basic the courses are, I don't think that would be a very big deal. Overall, I would give it five stars.
Estachen Luxtratus

Probably the best and most efficient course on Python available. I would recommend the entire series to anyone interested in learning and truly acquiring the skill of programming with Python
Anonymous

Regarding the entire breadth of the 4 part course on edX: I enjoyed the emphasis on practicing concepts learned in videos, as well as the enjoyable diversity of problems.
Anonymous

A fantastic introduction and review of introductory computer science concepts. Challenging content, excellent resources, and many chances for practice. Highly recommended!
Anonymous

First three parts of this course I treated rather as a refresher or an opportunity to systematise my knowledge. The last part, however, was for me something new. I did not have the vaguest idea what object oriented programming was. I tried to read this or that before but it was double Dutch for me. Thanks to Mr Joyner not only have I finally understood the concept of object oriented programming but also started liking and enjoying it. I would like to thank Mr Joyner for his amazing job. For many weeks he was a frequent guest in my home. Now, when the course is over, I'm gonna miss him a bit :)
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I have completed this and the four previous Computing in Python courses. Usually do each one in a day or two. I have found the content to be very well explained and I have learned quite a bit during the "free" outline. However, I have seen many errors,...

I have completed this and the four previous Computing in Python courses. Usually do each one in a day or two. I have found the content to be very well explained and I have learned quite a bit during the "free" outline. However, I have seen many errors, from grammar and "extra" words that should've been edited out. I have also found errors in the autograder, for example:

Coding problem 4

We tested your code with players = ('HORSE', 'HOR', 'HORS', 'HORSE').
We expected check_horse_winner to return the str "Players 1, 2: keep playing!".
However, it returned the str "Players 2, 3: keep playing!".

Clearly, players two and three were still going, as my code returned, but the autograder still showed 1 & 2.

With that said, overall, I am extremely happy with the course and the knowledge that I have taken away from it. If I had paid for this, I would've been quite disappointed to have found all these errors.

Again, content and training I would give a 5, but the overall web-grading and presentation is much lower due to all the mistakes that I have seen. (and i'm not very good at programming yet).

Thank you! I do enjoy these very much!
Anonymous

I have taken a handful of 'self-paced' online learning courses over the years, and many of them have helped me to increase my skills to a certain degree. However, this course pushed me beyond what I thought I would be capable of and opened my mind to a different career path that I always thought would be over my head. That is not to say I will ultimately end up in a computer science/programming career. Still, I have developed a much stronger interest in the IT space and potential options available to me in the future. This challenging course requires patience and persistence, but it is well worth the effort.
Anonymous

This course (CS1301: Introduction to Computing in its entirety) is not only a phenomenal introduction to Python, it also teaches you the fundamentals of programming and computing more generally, showing you how the same concepts are approached in different...

This course (CS1301: Introduction to Computing in its entirety) is not only a phenomenal introduction to Python, it also teaches you the fundamentals of programming and computing more generally, showing you how the same concepts are approached in different languages. Not only do I now feel comfortable with Python, taking this course also deepened my understanding of JavaScript (which I learned through Khan Academy) and I know will make future languages so much easier to pick up.

The course is all about learning and trying. There is no 'punishment' for making mistakes, as long as you're willing to keep trying to figure it out. This allowed me to explore and absorb the information much more thoroughly than a standard one-attempt grading structure.

Love the ability to playback at 1.5x and have captions on the side. This in addition to the variety of exercises, problem sets, and textbook review, makes the content accessible for visual, auditory, and experiential learners.
Anonymous

I really enjoyed the course, the theory is well explained and the exercises are also great. I really liked that some problems came back again in a different form. It wasn't boring as the exercise wasn't the same but gave me the opportunity to think more...

I really enjoyed the course, the theory is well explained and the exercises are also great. I really liked that some problems came back again in a different form. It wasn't boring as the exercise wasn't the same but gave me the opportunity to think more about the concept and find alternative solutions. It was very satisfying when I found easier and shorter ways to do the same thing, and I improved a lot with this.

I would like to mention only 2 things what I didn't like:

1. The audio of the videos is quite poor quality which was sometimes disturbing.

2. There are some mistakes in the description of the exercises which was confusing sometimes.

Overall it's a great course where I learnt a lot. I would also like to highlight that even the free version gives access to lots of useful exercises which is amazing and very rare. Thank you for that!

I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in the topic.