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Ask HN: Which Coursera courses/specializations you recommend?
I am a recent grad with beginner knowledge in programming. I wanna get into programming seriously, and my former university is sponsoring all my coursera certifications. Which ones should I do over the summer?
- striker_axel 6y agoI would recommend Andrew Ng's Deep Learning Course. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning This course is extremely good mostly because it covers the essential theoretical topics and gives some practical advice. TIP: do solve the assignments bcz it will clear a lot of concepts while solving it. ( or other solution can be found on github )
- kelvin0 6y agoI strongly second that and also Andrew Ng's : Machine Learning course. The only thing that was annoying for me was that the Jupyter assignment auto-grader would incorrectly fail correct answers and it's not always easy to debug the reason why it failed. If the python syntax deviates too much from the expected answer, it also can cause some issues. Please note: I am a very experienced programmer and have been using python for more than a decade. This was not my first rodeo... Otherwise this should in no way be a deal breaker, the material and assignments are top-notch. The forums are also helpful in finding out issues with the auto-grader. Worth every penny and minute invested!
- freewilly1040 6y agoCan you comment on whether it'd be best to jump straight into the deep learning course, or is it better to do the machine learning course first?
- Larrikin 6y agoThe deep learning course is taught in a way where you don't need the machine learning course first, so it's possible to start with either, especially if you have any familiarity with ML. Deep learning is one specific type of machine learning so there is alot of other techniques you will be missing if you only do the deep learning course though.
- ganstyles 6y agoI went through it, really enjoyed it. But I had experience in the same subject matter before taking it. If you have some ML experience, I would recommend diving straight in for a good breadth-first look at deep learning topics. If you don't have any ML experience or don't really know the concepts, I would recommend taking their other course first (Intro to AI, or AI for Everyone, or w/e -- which I skimmed to see if it was something I should recommend to others, and I liked it).
- babesh 6y agoI think it would be useful to take Udacity’s machine learning class as well to provide an additional perspective. There are some parallels such as edge detection uses the same techniques as convolutional networks, regularization is a general technique useful for both neural networks and clustering, optimization of steps in planning probably has a parallel to how Alpha Go works. Particle filters was cool. Also, take several of the classes in the specialization. Don’t stop at the first course. Convolutional networks has been great. I liked working on the notebooks and watching the interviews with some of the pioneers of Deep Learning.
- crazypython 6y agoCan anyone who's taken that and MIT's deep learning course (introtodeeplearning.com) compare them? How much do the material overlap? Which one is better?
- tartoran 6y agoLook up Programming Languages, part A and B
- pieteradejong 6y agogood one: https://www.coursera.org/learn/python https://www.coursera.org/learn/python
- JamesBarney 6y agoThis isn't coursera, but it is so good I felt compelled to mention it, fast.ai is fantastic.
- lifeslogit 6y agoSeconding this. fast.ai has greatly emphasized practical approaches for those interested in building deep learning applications. While I haven't completed their Deep Learning from the Foundations course, I don't know of any other course that goes as in-depth on the fascinating topic of building your own Deep Learning API.
- pul 6y agoThe first two course of the specialization on functional programming by Scala's founding father is worth your time if you're into that. I remember it being quite challenging, but gives you a thorough grasp of FP, and a new language in your toolkit. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/scala https://www.coursera.org/specializations/scala
- ctoomey 6y ago+1
- xenocratus 6y agoDan Boneh's Cryptography I course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/crypto https://www.coursera.org/learn/crypto I started learning about crypto from this one and found it well taught and detailed - he really goes into more rigorous proofs and attack models etc. When I did it (some 4-5 years ago) the assignments were also really challenging and fun, proper programming assignments.
- chris_j 6y agoI second this. Probably the best online course I've ever done. Very challenging but very rewarding. I'm looking forward to hopefully doing Cryptography II... One day. Check out Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup's work-in-progress textbook here: http://toc.cryptobook.us/ http://toc.cryptobook.us/
- manishsharan 6y agoCan anyone recommend a course for someone looking to move from senior software engineer/architect role to a technology management role in a traditional bank ? I am comfortable in Technology delivery but I need a guide map to successfully traverse the organizational politics and egos and policies. I know I need help with those soft skills.
- iamchris 6y agoFor soft skills, I would recommend reading The Case for Servant Leadership by Ken Keith. Take the Strengths Finder survey and get the full assessment. If you can afford it, find an executive coach to help you developing a learning plan to develop your soft skills. Also look for networking groups that might have soft skills seminars. I am a board member for one and we meet monthly and have guest speakers that talk about leadership, communications, networking, etc.
- throw1234651234 6y agoI really wonder if anyone not hand-picked for an Olympic team / for a position through nepotism ever got ANY benefit from "coaches".
- vessenes 6y agoI will treat this as a real question. The answer in my case is yes. Many, many senior executives, founders and owners benefit from coaching, and pay at times thousands per hour to be coached. In fact a famous coach in Silicon Valley was so well loved his coachees (including google founders) wrote a book about him to thank him. To paraphrase Dune, the first lesson is learning how to learn. Put another way, an insightful person rooting for you and kicking your ass can have a profound impact on your life. I recommend it!
- throw1234651234 6y agoIt's a serious question. I see virtually every "coach" as a scam artist who would be doing what they coach if they could. The few legitimate coaches out there are prohibitively expensive. Of course, that's just my take on it.
- dgellow 6y agoThe algorithm specialization was really cool to work through.
- spookyuser 6y agoWhile not directly related to programming I'm currently doing The science of wellbeing https://www.coursera.org/lecture/the-science-of-well-being/become-happier-by-learning-applying-psychological-science-1SQxW https://www.coursera.org/lecture/the-science-of-well-being/b... and would definitely recommend it.
- random31415 6y agoI would highly recommend this course - https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-development-bootcamp/ https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-development-bo...
- g_delgado14 6y agoI appreciate your contribution, but this doesn't answer OP's question. Secondly, Udemy is notoriously a sham full of copyright infringement. So I would respectfully ask that folks use alternative learning platforms when possible. Here's one of many, many, examples of content theft / copyright infringement: https://www.troyhunt.com/the-piracy-paradox-at-udemy/ https://www.troyhunt.com/the-piracy-paradox-at-udemy/
- ducaale 6y ago1. CS50 [difficulty level: medium, has certificate: Yes] https://www.edx.org/course/cs50s-introduction-to-computer-science https://www.edx.org/course/cs50s-introduction-to-computer-sc... 2. Algorithms [difficulty level: hard, has certificate: No] https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1 https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1 3. Nand2Tetris [difficulty level: ok, has certificate: Yes] https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-computer https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-computer
- leesec 6y agohttps://missing.csail.mit.edu/ https://missing.csail.mit.edu/ not Coursera but free and extremely valuable.
- ctnb 6y agoSoftware Design and Architecture Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/software-design-architecture https://www.coursera.org/specializations/software-design-arc... I learned so much in these courses that cover OOD, design patterns, and architecture in a real world and practical way. I found it one of the best taught courses I've taken.
- dxsh 6y agoIs there a reason the course uses Java and not Kotlin for developing a app?
- vector_rotcev 6y agoI have completed both of the following: 1) https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn 2) https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning I highly recommend both of them, if they cover a subject you're interested in, though if you only have time for one, they are listed in descending priority order. Given how low it's time+energy requirements are, and how large the pay-off has been, I recommend Learning How to Learn by Dr. Barbara Oakley to everyone regardless.
- aynyc 6y agoI did Learning How To Learn twice and I still not sure how helpful it is. The only thing I found useful/applicable is spaced repetition. What part of the course do you feel it's valuable? I don't mind going back to do it again.
- AlchemistCamp 6y agoThe focused vs diffuse thinking part was very useful for me.
- aynyc 6y agoHow do you apply this? Let's say we want to learn a new programming language. I should spend time focus on a topic, then how do I apply diffused thinking here?
- libertine 6y agoI learned to value physical activity for diffuse thinking, and related to it when I unconsciously feel the urge get up and walked around the room when thinking about some subjects I've learned.
- vector_rotcev 6y agoA meaningful part of what I found useful was that I knew ~<10% of the content. It was 8 hours effort (Tuesday+Thursday 1 hour lunchtimes for four weeks, including all videos, quiz's, note taking (on the phone I was watching it on), and tests), and I'm now sure I know how to study effectively. I think one working day is worth it to make sure you're up to date. I also found the working memory, and memory information in general very informative and helpful.
- TACIXAT 6y agoThe intro to deep learning using tensorflow is great. It made a lot more stuff click for me than fast.ai.
- bjourne 6y agoIf you are a beginner you want to start with either Python or Javascript (with our without HTML). Any course that introduces those languages would be fine. Don't bother with anything more advanced until you have the fundamentals down. Also, unless you're already doing it, learn how to touch type.
- pknerd 6y agoI'd recommend https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn
- rocgf 6y agoI can vouch for this one as well.
- yaj54 6y agoAs it happens I have catalogued and ranked all mentions of Coursera courses on Hacker News - you'll note that many of the mentions in this current discussion appear there as well. HN Academy: https://yahnd.com/academy/ https://yahnd.com/academy/ I've also more recently done the same thing with mentions of Coursera on Reddit: https://reddsera.com https://reddsera.com Hope it helps!
- quotz 6y agoWow thanks!
- spsphulse 6y agoGreat job!! I looked at your HN profile & it looks like you’ve a knack for similar websites that compile information from comment threads. I suppose you’re using NLP, specifically NER. Is there a blogpost that details your general approach? Or could you suggest how to extract such information from threads?
- yaj54 6y agoNope - regular expressions all the way. :-) I keep thinking I'll move toward NER but keep finding other ways to find value first. Same answer regarding the blog...
- AlchemistCamp 6y agoI'd be very wary about this kind of resource given that Coursera is almost completely different from what it was 5 years ago. Some courses have been removed. More things have been pay-gated, including automated test suites for programming assignments. A comment from HN years ago about a Coursera course may well be misleading in 2020.
- yaj54 6y agoVery true. I try to mitigate this in some ways on my site, but it is certainly not perfect.
- meghdeepr 6y agoWhat would you recommend as the best mathematics course for understanding the underlying mathematics in machine learning ?
- quotz 6y agoThere was one called Mathematics for Machine Learning on Coursera check it out its by Imperial College London
- jp0d 6y agoWhy is almost every answer on this thread is related to Machine Learning. The question was about programming. There is 3 part series from University of Washington on programming languages covering Standard ML, Racket and Ruby. It compares and contrasts functional programming and Object oriented programming in detail by teaching 3 different languages. I believe this is a great resource to start with. Here is the link. --> https://www.coursera.org/learn/programming-languages https://www.coursera.org/learn/programming-languages
- digaozao 6y agoOne of the best courses i had. It gave an First view of functional programming. And ML, is just great. And now I can see many languages influenced by It.
- ctoomey 6y agoI also highly recommend this course. It does a great job of comparing/contrasting functional and OOP.
- jp0d 6y agoI did part of the ML course. I've been pondering over which language to choose to advance my functional programming journey. I've been torn between choosing Lispy variants such as Scheme, Racket, Clojure etc or the ML variants such Scala, SML, OCaml, F# or go nuts and do Haskell! :D But I'm a data analyst by profession and I'm 35 years old. So I need to choose something wisely. I'm studying statistics at the moment and the most wise choice for me is R. I already do some work on Python. R is based on Scheme and has a lot of functional aspects. Some of the answers related to Machine Learning here are relevant to me. But for the question, I also believe the Washington University course is a strong contender. Hopefully, I'll have the time in future to learn some of it.
- ctoomey 6y agoThe Stanford algorithms specialization (https://www.coursera.org/specializations/algorithms https://www.coursera.org/specializations/algorithms) is outstanding. Professor Roughgarden is the best instructor I've ever had, online or in person. He's got infectious enthusiasm about the topic and does a great job explaining the algorithms and how to analyze and understand them.
- Thorentis 6y agoStanfords cryptography 1 course is fantastic, highly recommend. Apparently a more advanced one (crypto 2) is coming out October-ish too.