Chevron Left
Back to Python Programming Essentials

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Python Programming Essentials by Rice University

4.8
stars
3,414 ratings

About the Course

This course will introduce you to the wonderful world of Python programming! We'll learn about the essential elements of programming and how to construct basic Python programs. We will cover expressions, variables, functions, logic, and conditionals, which are foundational concepts in computer programming. We will also teach you how to use Python modules, which enable you to benefit from the vast array of functionality that is already a part of the Python language. These concepts and skills will help you to begin to think like a computer programmer and to understand how to go about writing Python programs. By the end of the course, you will be able to write short Python programs that are able to accomplish real, practical tasks. This course is the foundation for building expertise in Python programming. As the first course in a specialization, it provides the necessary building blocks for you to succeed at learning to write more complex Python programs. This course uses Python 3. While many Python programs continue to use Python 2, Python 3 is the future of the Python programming language. This first course will use a Python 3 version of the CodeSkulptor development environment, which is specifically designed to help beginning programmers learn quickly. CodeSkulptor runs within any modern web browser and does not require you to install any software, allowing you to start writing and running small programs immediately. In the later courses in this specialization, we will help you to move to more sophisticated desktop development environments....

Top reviews

RS

Apr 27, 2021

A really good course good material and lectures. However, I find that sometimes that too much guidance given, and it has sort of made the course less challanging. nevertheless a good foundation course

JW

Apr 25, 2018

I really enjoyed this course, but I would highly recommend taking something along the lines of Codecademy prior to this one. It will help to get you versed in some of the more basic things in Python.

Filter by:

801 - 825 of 838 Reviews for Python Programming Essentials

By Om H M

•

Jun 23, 2021

nice

By Sampath k R

•

Aug 20, 2020

Good

By Vinayak C

•

Aug 5, 2020

good

By Sweta c

•

Aug 28, 2020

ok

By James S

•

Feb 23, 2018

After 3rd week, ok, but could do much better. The professors are good and do their best to be informative. I think the videos do a good job of explaining the content being presented. The major problem is when it gets to the exercises at the end of each week and before the quiz. I found myself totally lost on these. I watched the videos just about every day and stayed engaged as much as possible. Once the exercises came up, it was as if I had not learned a thing and I did not even know where to begin on some of them. The fundamental flaw in this class is lack of practical application between each lecture with exercises to stimulate learning of the subject matter. Going through a video and explaining apparently did nothing for me. There absolutely needs to be more exercises interspersed between the lectures. I fear that the next weeks are going to really throw me off, and I do not have time to go back and review all the past weeks. My other suggestion is that we are all not mathematicians taking this. Focus less on things like Collatz conjecture, especially in quizzes. I have no desire to try and learn some complex mathematical equation I will never use in real world scenarios in order to pass a quiz.

By David S

•

May 14, 2018

This course is a fair introduction to Python. I found the format of a combination of video, readings and exercises to be effective, and about average quality for a popular MOOC. The two instructors were articulate and showed that they wanted to impart their knowledge. Points go for developing the final assignment for a previous session, being rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. As well I'd like to share some (mostly minor) negatives. First of all, I needed to invest about double their advertised weekly time commitment of 5 to 7 hours. I would have found it helpful to get feedback on submissions, and would have preferred a peer-marking system. Finally, I think the software for marking the final project is problematic. In our case it could give a grade of zero for the entire project if you did not answer the first question correctly - and the final counted for 55% of the grade. (Ask me how I know).

By Deleted A

•

Mar 19, 2023

I have fully completed all 4 modules.

The Good: I very much like the fact that the lecture videos themselves are relatively short and cover little material. It covers just enough without being overwhelming.

The Mediocre: The lectures of these professors don't explain the material as well as other courses that can be found both on and off of Coursera.

The Bad: The exercises are written poorly. They contain spelling and grammatical errors and some simply don't do a good job of being clear about what they are asking you.

The Verdict: There are definitely better Python 3 beginner courses out there, but if you're like me and like learning at a slower pace and have some prior experiences with learning Python then you can probably manage to navigate the course. 3/5.

By Carlos S B

•

Feb 29, 2020

The lectures of the topics covered are quite good, as well as the exercises and final Project. However, I'm sure that the course does not cover lots of additional basic concepts. I expected to have had an extended view of these other concepts. In conclusión: the course it's good if you don't have previous experience with programming. If you already have experience with other languages, the course it's too much basic.

By Melissa S

•

Jan 11, 2023

CodeSkulptor is using a VERY out of date version of python. I couldn't find it documented exactly which version it was using, but I had to rewrite code many times because the modules/functions I had used were not available. Based on those modules/functions availability, I can say that it is less than 3.7.

By Sarthak T

•

Jun 25, 2020

The course is very good as well as the topics are nicely explained. The only problem I found is that the level of questions in the weekly assignments are pretty high in comparison to the video lectures that are taught

By Kristoffer H

•

Mar 15, 2018

Great course for the basics but you end up spending more time trying to figure out their required styling than actual coding when in industry your employer will likely have an entirely different style.

By Chan C M

•

May 22, 2021

I hope there is a Jupiter notebook inside the course. If the course actually force you to complete the programming exercises with test cases provided it will be better.

By JASH S

•

Apr 16, 2020

The course was really great and the instructors are really cool!

The only problem being the over-stubborn and strict style of final assessment.

By Madhubalini V

•

Sep 17, 2020

the course needs more practices in the learning session but its straightaway leading to large projects and its very difficult for a beginner.

By shahrzad m

•

Dec 14, 2020

The course didn't cover all of the essentials for python programming in my opinion. Missing for loops, lists, etc.

By Mary B

•

Nov 24, 2023

There are lack of explanations on how to do the exercises, and there is no mentor to ask for guidance.

By Junwei

•

Mar 21, 2019

A fairly good course for the beginners of python but I think there is more to teach for a beginner.

By Christian B

•

Oct 2, 2019

i appreciated the exercises. The explanations were too long and redundant, especially the talking.

By shouvik p

•

Sep 12, 2020

It was good but many topics are not covered like while loop,try,except statements etc.

By Brian H

•

Oct 30, 2022

Covers very basic Python. Good enough for trivial tasks, but nothing in-depth

By Manoj S

•

Nov 5, 2019

course content is good but the quiz questions are not clear to understand

By 谢雨敖

•

Feb 12, 2020

I cannot open the marking system of the final project.

By emad t

•

Jul 17, 2020

Thank you, and forward.

By Moiz L

•

Jan 5, 2018

Good practice materials

By SUMON R

•

Nov 8, 2022

very hard questions.