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Back to Programming Languages, Part B

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Programming Languages, Part B by University of Washington

4.9
stars
748 ratings

About the Course

[As described below, this is Part B of a 3-part course. Participants should complete Part A first -- Part B "dives right in" and refers often to material from Part A.] This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of programming languages, with a strong emphasis on functional programming. The course uses the languages ML, Racket, and Ruby as vehicles for teaching the concepts, but the real intent is to teach enough about how any language “fits together” to make you more effective programming in any language -- and in learning new ones. This course is neither particularly theoretical nor just about programming specifics -- it will give you a framework for understanding how to use language constructs effectively and how to design correct and elegant programs. By using different languages, you will learn to think more deeply than in terms of the particular syntax of one language. The emphasis on functional programming is essential for learning how to write robust, reusable, composable, and elegant programs. Indeed, many of the most important ideas in modern languages have their roots in functional programming. Get ready to learn a fresh and beautiful way to look at software and how to have fun building it. The course assumes some prior experience with programming, as described in more detail in the first module of Part A. Part B assumes successful completion of Part A. The course is divided into three Coursera courses: Part A, Part B, and Part C. As explained in more detail in the first module of Part A, the overall course is a substantial amount of challenging material, so the three-part format provides two intermediate milestones and opportunities for a pause before continuing. The three parts are designed to be completed in order and set up to motivate you to continue through to the end of Part C. Week 1 of Part A has a more detailed list of topics for all three parts of the course, but it is expected that most course participants will not (yet!) know what all these topics mean....

Top reviews

AZ

Mar 23, 2018

Great course with really interesting and challenging assignments that allow to get more precise vision on programming languages (especially on PL's typing systems) and get experience with modern LISP

VA

Mar 18, 2018

This course (as Part A and C) is great - Dan is great in teaching and the content is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about programming languages!

Warning - you might end up loving FP :)

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26 - 50 of 170 Reviews for Programming Languages, Part B

By Renato P

May 14, 2021

The second assignment is challenging but very interesting. The task is to implement an interpreter in Racket for a made-up programming language with features like anonymous functions and function closures. Dan Grossman is an excellent teacher as well. I can't recommend this course enough.

By Krishna A

Jul 29, 2017

Excellent course, which continues where Part A left off. The use of Racket (dynamically typed) language, presents an interesting contrast with ML and drives home the point of some of the design decisions involved in language design. Thoroughly enjoyed implementing the sample interpreter.

By Pablo A

Mar 11, 2019

Excellent intro to a Lisp and functional programming in a dynamically typed language. Very hard but rewarding homework. It is worth the effort in my opinion to make you a better programmer if you are already one or to train you right from the beginning if you are new to it.

By Jimmy C C

Mar 16, 2020

I watch the video lectures as supplements for a course I am taking at my university, which happens to be based on this course. I feel compelled to say that this is one of the best courses I have ever taken and Dan Grossman is the best instructor I have ever had.

By Peilun D

Jan 16, 2020

Very good course. It helps contrast dynamically typed language such as Racket and a statically typed language such as ML to help me better understand the tradeoffs in language designing. In this sense, it makes me a better programmer in other languages.

By Luiz C

Jul 4, 2018

Fantastic course, a must for anyone serious or interested about programming. Challenging, but time really well spent: Course very well organized, quality videos by a very engaging professor, and very interesting with gradual complexity exercises

By Juliano P

Jun 28, 2020

Great! A complement to Part A and it really uses things we've learned in Part A with the Standard ML language and does lots of comparisons, so you should probably take Part A if you have never used SML. Learned a lot with this course. Thanks!

By John S

Sep 14, 2016

An absolutely high quality class. The instruction is superb, the assignment is on par with top programs at Stanford, MIT, and CMU. Dr. Grossman's lecture is just so clear and energetic that makes learning this hard topic fun.

By Lorenzo B

Jul 2, 2020

I didn't terribly care about racket because of some previous common lisp/scheme experience; I wish the static/dynamic typing comparison had more space, but that's just because to ME that was the most interesting part.

By Anup P

Dec 28, 2023

This feels like an awesome sequel to an already awesome part A - and again, not only in terms of structure and content but also in terms of quizzes, programming assignments and exams (practice and final).

By Vaidas A

Mar 19, 2018

This course (as Part A and C) is great - Dan is great in teaching and the content is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about programming languages!

Warning - you might end up loving FP :)

By Dmytro F

Jan 29, 2023

Great course! I learned the Racket programming language and functional programming in general. I recommend it to everyone interested in programming. Assignments are interesting and fun.

By Jan H

Dec 27, 2016

I took this course about 10 years off the college, and it was excellent refresher on the topics I don't use on a daily basis. Absolutely great lecturer, great videos and study materials!

By Jiangnan T

Dec 2, 2021

Thanks for this wonderful course. What I learned through this course really made me a much more efficient programmer, and it helped me to grasp new programming language a lot faster.

By Yuji S

Sep 25, 2016

Great course! Learned more about PL, what is interpreter/ compiler language, what is statically typed/ dynamically typed. The homework is very rewarding! Looking forward to Part C.

By David H

Sep 28, 2021

Fantastic course on functional programming, programming languages, and type theory. Highly recommended. Dan is an amazing teacher and the course structure and pace is excellent.

By Sam S

Apr 1, 2020

A strong follow-up to Part A. The second week's homework assignment is quite difficult, but very rewarding. This course has greatly helped shape my views on programming.

By Jose J

Aug 16, 2020

Excelent course.! Wished contained more material. Also I think changing the editor from Emacs to Dr Racket was not really necessary... all in all excellent course!

By Jacob K

Jul 5, 2018

Just as good as the first segment of the course. Learned a lot of good material about dynamically vs statically typed languages and how languages are interpreted.

By Pedro d S Q

Aug 12, 2020

Very enjoyable course, follow-up to Part A. Building an interpreter really solidifies what we saw, a really nice exercise. I'll definitely move on to part C!

By Gabriel A S

Jul 17, 2020

I'll learn many things in this course with the enthusiasm and hard work of a very knowledgeable professor on the field. Great course 10/10 would do it again.

By Kevin X

Dec 17, 2016

This series is really the course you need to take if you feel not comfortable and want to know why(or describe the feelings) when you code in school or work.

By Paramjot S

Oct 18, 2020

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s a very good introduction to functional programming in dynamic language by focusing on the fundamentals. Highly recommended!!

By Yuchong P

Jun 1, 2017

The course is really fantastic! It leads me to the world of Racket programming and guides me to many concepts in programming language theory (PLT).

By Peter B

Mar 12, 2017

Suitable even for experienced programmers.

Excellent presentation of fundamental programming concepts.

Exercises are challenging but rewarding.