Building on the course Programming Fundamentals, this course will teach you how to write code by first planning what your program should do—an important approach for novice and professional programmers. You will learn how to compile and run your program, and then how to test and debug it. This course builds on the Seven Steps you have already learned and provides a framework for systematically testing for problems and fixing them, so you can find and fix problems efficiently.
This course is part of the Introduction to Programming in C Specialization
Offered By
Introduction to Programming in C SpecializationDuke UniversityAbout this Course
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Learner Career Outcomes
50%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
50%
got a pay increase or promotion
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 2 of 4 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Beginner Level
Approx. 18 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Vietnamese, Russian, English, Spanish
Skills you will gain
C ProgrammingCompilerDebugging
Learner Career Outcomes
50%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
50%
got a pay increase or promotion
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 2 of 4 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Beginner Level
Approx. 18 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Vietnamese, Russian, English, Spanish
Offered by
Duke University
Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
6 hours to complete
Writing Code
In this module, you will learn to write code and do your first assignment in the Practice Programming Environment. You have practiced the first four steps of the Seven Steps in the previous course, and you will review them here before learning Step 5: Translating Your Algorithm to Code. Expert programmers spend most of their time planning before they begin writing code, and you will learn to do the same!
6 hours to complete
7 videos (Total 34 min), 25 readings, 2 quizzes
7 videos
Intersection of Two Rectangles5m
Translating the Intersection Algorithm to Code5m
Introduction to the Programming Environment6m
Editing Files with Emacs8m
More about Git4m
GitHub1m
25 readings
Planning10m
****Current Technical Problems with Course Programming Environment****2m
Revisiting Step 110m
Revisiting Step 210m
Step 3: Generalizing Values10m
Step 3: Repetitions10m
Step 3: Conditional Behavior10m
Revisiting Step 410m
Translation to Code10m
Translating Algorithm Components10m
Completed Rectangle Intersection Code10m
Top-down Design and Composability10m
Stars Example10m
Introduction to the Programming Environment10m
Using the Practice Programming Environment10m
Solutions to a Few Common Problems10m
UNIX basics10m
More UNIX Commands10m
Emacs10m
Assignment 01_apple10m
Git10m
[Optional Reference] Help me fix...10m
How Assignments Work in This Course10m
Assignments 02_code1 and 03_code210m
Next Steps10m
2 practice exercises
Steps 1–4 Review30m
Step 5 Concepts30m
5 hours to complete
Compiling and Running
Now that you know how to plan an algorithm and translate it to code, you need to learn how to compile and run it! You will learn about the compiler, which takes the code you wrote and translates it into instructions a machine can execute, which you can then run. You will also learn about different options you can give the compiler, as well as different ways to run your program that give you debugging information.
5 hours to complete
8 videos (Total 26 min), 17 readings, 4 quizzes
8 videos
"Hello World"3m
Planning isPrime3m
Generalizing isPrime5m
Translating isPrime to Code2m
Comparing Output with diff3m
Build Tool: make3m
Compiling with a Makefile2m
17 readings
Compiling Overview10m
Compilation Process10m
Preprocessing10m
Assignment 04_compile10m
Getting Help: man Pages10m
Assignment 05_squares10m
More about Macros and Header Files10m
The Actual Compiler10m
Compiler Errors10m
Assembling10m
Linking10m
Make10m
Fancier make Options10m
Running Your Program10m
valgrind10m
Compiler Options10m
Assignments 06_rect and 07_retirement10m
4 practice exercises
Compiling30m
Compilation Process30m
Make and Valgrind30m
Prototype: Assignment 06 Practice Quiz10m
5 hours to complete
Testing and debugging
Two skills that are crucial to good programming are testing—finding problems with your code, and debugging—fixing them. In this module you will learn systematic ways to identify problems in your code, as well as how to apply the scientific method to fix your program when you do find a bug.
5 hours to complete
6 videos (Total 21 min), 17 readings, 3 quizzes
6 videos
Test-driven Development1m
Code Review2m
Finding Problems with Valgrind5m
Gathering Information with gdb6m
Advice from a Duke Software Engineering Student: Don't Give Up!2m
17 readings
Black Box Testing10m
Practical Tips for Designing Test Cases10m
White Box Testing10m
Generating Test Cases10m
Asserts10m
Code Review10m
Assignments 08_testing and 09_testing10m
Step 7: Debugging10m
The Scientific Method10m
Accept or Reject Your Hypothesis?10m
Intro to gdb10m
Getting Started with gdb10m
Investigating the State of Your Program10m
Controlling Execution10m
Watchpoints10m
Signals10m
Assignment 10_gdb10m
3 practice exercises
Testing30m
Debugging30m
gdb30m
1 hour to complete
Project
In this module you will begin the project you will complete over the course of the rest of the specialization. At the end of each course, you will write a piece of a program that will calculate the odds of different poker hands winning with a Monte Carlo simulation—a way to calculate complicated probabilities by generating random data.
1 hour to complete
2 videos (Total 8 min), 3 readings
3 readings
Assignment c2prj1_cards30m
Rules of Poker10m
Assignment c2prj2_testing30m
1 hour to complete
Practice Programming Environment
1 hour to complete
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM WRITING, RUNNING, AND FIXING CODE IN C
by KKMay 30, 2020
Instructors and the instructors who moderate the forums are great. It is a bit different way to look at programming but it makes sense and I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn C
by SKMay 2, 2020
A Bit Hard course, since it has many assignments also some are complex, but 100% guaranty that you will learn to run a succesfull code by solving assignments and completing the material
by AEJun 14, 2020
It is actually a hard course i guess you need to have at least the basics as some of the assignments were really hard take me a lot of time to do them. especially the poker assignment
by SKDec 23, 2018
Very detailed and very helpful. Thanks to the tutors for putting together such a detailed course where nothing seems rushed while at the same time everything is explained.
About the Introduction to Programming in C Specialization
This specialization develops strong programming fundamentals for learners who want to solve complex problems by writing computer programs. Through four courses, you will learn to develop algorithms in a systematic way and read and write the C code to implement them. This will prepare you to pursue a career in software development or other computational fields.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
- The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
- The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes, Coursera provides financial aid to learners who cannot afford the fee. Apply for it by clicking on the Financial Aid link beneath the "Enroll" button on the left. You'll be prompted to complete an application and will be notified if you are approved. You'll need to complete this step for each course in the Specialization, including the Capstone Project. Learn more.
Will I receive a transcript from Duke University for completing this course?
No. Completion of a Coursera course does not earn you academic credit from Duke; therefore, Duke is not able to provide you with a university transcript. However, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
