9 ms·

MIT OpenCourseWare programming lecture videos (in Python)

160 points by bitsai 16y ago

JCB_K 16y ago
I tried these, but ended up with Google Code Classes: http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/index.html http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ind... worked better for me.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
metastew 16y ago
I checked this out over a year ago and I couldn't go through with MIT OpenCourseWare classes because of lack of subtitles for many of their videos... But now I'm pleasantly surprised to see they added subtitle supports for Python classes! Kudos to MIT for recognizing that there are many disabled/foreign students keen to learn from their OCW materials.
- beagledude 16y ago
  I've watched a few of these, that professor is awesome. He teaches in a very positive way that's clearly understandable. He's the best one I've found on itunes U
  - rosstafarian 16y ago
    checkout harvard's http://cs50.tv http://cs50.tv (beginning compsci mostly c, not c++) the professor is one of the best i've seen in terms of how enthusiastic he is about the material itself and about teaching it especially to students without much prior experience. You can tell he really loves this stuff and his attitude is infectious.
    - johnnyjung 16y ago
      Definitely! It somehow manages to brush upon C, HTML, PHP, SQL and some Javascript...so you can actually start doing stuff. A good starting point for CS, imo (and certainly better than the intro to CS course at my college).
rapind 16y ago
Thanks for the link. I'm a self-taught coder of about 13 years now (C, Java, Ruby) and I always feel like there's a few basics I'm missing so I'll probably tackle this after Lisp. Besides, Python has always seemed like a very nice syntax (love when indenting means something but the colon bugs me).
- bitsai 16y ago
  No problem :) IMHO, Zed Shaw's "Learn Python The Hard Way" (free book) is also really good at teaching both Python and programming: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index
  - flatline 16y ago
    This looks like a great book, I perused it briefly a while back, but I think that if you've been coding for 13 years you're well beyond the level of its target audience.
    - wyclif 16y ago
      That's true. Zed's book is for total beginners; people who are just learning how to use a text editor.
- mattdeboard 16y ago
  Are you a professional coder now? If so, how/when did you start, once you started self-learning?
zemanel 16y ago
it's not "Python video lectures", it's "Introduction to Computer science" in which the teacher uses Python, and you can't barely see the code in the videos, so the real potential of these classes is theory (i know, i've seen them)
- bitsai 16y ago
  Touche; title updated.
  - zemanel 16y ago
    ... not that i don't love both Python and the vids :) but it was the truth
  - zemanel 16y ago
    ... not that i don't love both Python and the vids :) but it was the truth
- klous 16y ago
  The disappointing part is that the lecturer talks about handouts that are given to students with the example code he uses during the lectures, which isn't online AFAIK. I find myself taking screenshots of the full screen flash video and replicating code I want to try out myself.
  - espeed 16y ago
    Have you looked at the OpenCourseWare home page for the course or http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/readings/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... ?
    - klous 16y ago
      I have looked on the home page and on the various pages, including the readings page and the example code that he uses in class is still not in the online resources.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
achompas 16y ago
Excellent course--as a self-taught coder I used these classes to learn the basics. Great review of common data structures, big-O notation & algorithms, and even some basic coding syntax. HN has a number of lurkers who want to learn to code at any given time--all of them should take this class.
cambriar 16y ago
MIT OCW is currently one of my home pages, but it's the series on Algorithms. The other home page is HN of course. Good material no doubt.
tvon 16y ago
Having some free time on my hands lately, I've been cruising iTunesU for stuff like this, it's been pretty great. I can sit in my living room doing work on my laptop with courses from Stanford, MIT or ${reputible_university} playing on my TV. It's amazing how accessible knowledge is these days...
mbowcock 16y ago
This is another good resource for similar content. http://academicearth.org/ http://academicearth.org/
- mkr-hn 16y ago
  The videos on that site stutter a lot for me. Probably the fact that I'm on an ancient laptop. :(
invertd 16y ago
Thank you bitsai! Great source. Google's Python Class is also good.
- mcn 16y ago
  Their two day class, right? I'm a fan of that also; it quickly gets you to a level where you can do basic things and lookup slightly more complex things. http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/index.html http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ind...
espeed 16y ago
There is even an OpenStudy page for the course where you can get help: http://openstudy.com/study-groups/MIT+6.0+Intro+Computer+Science+(OCW) http://openstudy.com/study-groups/MIT+6.0+Intro+Computer+Sci...
maurits 16y ago
I have nothing but praise for the MIT/SIT for putting their courses online. For an introduction to python and cs, however, I like "Practical Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Python" http://pragprog.com/titles/gwpy/practical-programming http://pragprog.com/titles/gwpy/practical-programming
D3lt4 16y ago
My only problem with MIT CourseWare is that the video (audio sometimes) is poor quality, I wish they uploaded 720p learning beauty.

160 points by bitsai 16y ago

JCB_K 16y ago

I tried these, but ended up with Google Code Classes: http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/index.html http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ind... worked better for me.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

metastew 16y ago

I checked this out over a year ago and I couldn't go through with MIT OpenCourseWare classes because of lack of subtitles for many of their videos... But now I'm pleasantly surprised to see they added subtitle supports for Python classes! Kudos to MIT for recognizing that there are many disabled/foreign students keen to learn from their OCW materials.

beagledude 16y ago
I've watched a few of these, that professor is awesome. He teaches in a very positive way that's clearly understandable. He's the best one I've found on itunes U
- rosstafarian 16y ago
  checkout harvard's http://cs50.tv http://cs50.tv (beginning compsci mostly c, not c++) the professor is one of the best i've seen in terms of how enthusiastic he is about the material itself and about teaching it especially to students without much prior experience. You can tell he really loves this stuff and his attitude is infectious.
  - johnnyjung 16y ago
    Definitely! It somehow manages to brush upon C, HTML, PHP, SQL and some Javascript...so you can actually start doing stuff. A good starting point for CS, imo (and certainly better than the intro to CS course at my college).

rapind 16y ago

Thanks for the link. I'm a self-taught coder of about 13 years now (C, Java, Ruby) and I always feel like there's a few basics I'm missing so I'll probably tackle this after Lisp. Besides, Python has always seemed like a very nice syntax (love when indenting means something but the colon bugs me).

bitsai 16y ago
No problem :) IMHO, Zed Shaw's "Learn Python The Hard Way" (free book) is also really good at teaching both Python and programming: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index
- flatline 16y ago
  This looks like a great book, I perused it briefly a while back, but I think that if you've been coding for 13 years you're well beyond the level of its target audience.
  - wyclif 16y ago
    That's true. Zed's book is for total beginners; people who are just learning how to use a text editor.
mattdeboard 16y ago
Are you a professional coder now? If so, how/when did you start, once you started self-learning?

zemanel 16y ago

it's not "Python video lectures", it's "Introduction to Computer science" in which the teacher uses Python, and you can't barely see the code in the videos, so the real potential of these classes is theory (i know, i've seen them)

bitsai 16y ago
Touche; title updated.
- zemanel 16y ago
  ... not that i don't love both Python and the vids :) but it was the truth
- zemanel 16y ago
  ... not that i don't love both Python and the vids :) but it was the truth
klous 16y ago
The disappointing part is that the lecturer talks about handouts that are given to students with the example code he uses during the lectures, which isn't online AFAIK. I find myself taking screenshots of the full screen flash video and replicating code I want to try out myself.
- espeed 16y ago
  Have you looked at the OpenCourseWare home page for the course or http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/readings/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... ?
  - klous 16y ago
    I have looked on the home page and on the various pages, including the readings page and the example code that he uses in class is still not in the online resources.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

achompas 16y ago

Excellent course--as a self-taught coder I used these classes to learn the basics. Great review of common data structures, big-O notation & algorithms, and even some basic coding syntax. HN has a number of lurkers who want to learn to code at any given time--all of them should take this class.

cambriar 16y ago

MIT OCW is currently one of my home pages, but it's the series on Algorithms. The other home page is HN of course. Good material no doubt.

tvon 16y ago

Having some free time on my hands lately, I've been cruising iTunesU for stuff like this, it's been pretty great. I can sit in my living room doing work on my laptop with courses from Stanford, MIT or ${reputible_university} playing on my TV. It's amazing how accessible knowledge is these days...

mbowcock 16y ago

This is another good resource for similar content. http://academicearth.org/ http://academicearth.org/

mkr-hn 16y ago
The videos on that site stutter a lot for me. Probably the fact that I'm on an ancient laptop. :(

invertd 16y ago

Thank you bitsai! Great source. Google's Python Class is also good.

mcn 16y ago
Their two day class, right? I'm a fan of that also; it quickly gets you to a level where you can do basic things and lookup slightly more complex things. http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/index.html http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ind...

espeed 16y ago

There is even an OpenStudy page for the course where you can get help: http://openstudy.com/study-groups/MIT+6.0+Intro+Computer+Science+(OCW) http://openstudy.com/study-groups/MIT+6.0+Intro+Computer+Sci...

maurits 16y ago

I have nothing but praise for the MIT/SIT for putting their courses online. For an introduction to python and cs, however, I like "Practical Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Python" http://pragprog.com/titles/gwpy/practical-programming http://pragprog.com/titles/gwpy/practical-programming

D3lt4 16y ago

My only problem with MIT CourseWare is that the video (audio sometimes) is poor quality, I wish they uploaded 720p learning beauty.