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

4.9
stars
1,906 ratings

About the Course

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. 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. The three parts are not quite equal in length: Part A is almost as substantial as Part B and Part C combined. 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

JB

Oct 9, 2016

Fantastic course providing not only a great introduction to Functional Programming fundamentals, but also leading on to how languages relate to one another. Highly recommended.

SS

Jan 3, 2017

Instant favourite programming course. Great instructor and material, fun assignments, mind-bendy recursion, cool concepts you didn't know you wanted to know about. Learned a lot.

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376 - 400 of 554 Reviews for Programming Languages, Part A

By Ahmad N

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Sep 12, 2017

Great course, hoping the next one will top it

By Emre E

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Apr 14, 2023

Such an amazing course thanks for everything

By David R B

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Mar 8, 2023

Great instruction on functional programming.

By Daniel F

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Apr 2, 2021

Best introduction to functional programming!

By Paul H

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Sep 28, 2020

Excellent exposition, enriching assignments.

By Iván M P

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Sep 28, 2019

This course is a must for every programmer.

By Kurt

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Oct 14, 2018

very nice course, content explained clearly

By Syed A

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Jun 2, 2017

Great course to learn programming concepts.

By Kayn z

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Feb 10, 2017

You learn the core of programming languages

By Deleted A

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Oct 6, 2016

This course is a great learning experience.

By Oscar

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Aug 24, 2016

A fantastic course with a great instructor.

By wx0210

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Jan 14, 2022

It is amazing class, and thank for Mr.Dan!

By 宋铄运

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Oct 15, 2020

I'm very grateful for this awesome course!

By T N

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Jun 21, 2019

one of the best MOOCs you can ever attend.

By Deleted A

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Aug 24, 2016

Great course on writing concise functions.

By Jeffrey T

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Feb 16, 2017

One of the best course I have ever taken.

By Nacho C I

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Apr 16, 2019

Was a beutiful course with fun exercises

By GanFanR8

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Mar 8, 2018

will be a good second programming class.

By AL444L

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Aug 31, 2017

I love this course and Dr.Dan is so nice

By Aleksandr A

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Aug 22, 2017

One of the best course I have ever seen.

By Sergio

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Feb 13, 2017

Professional-quality content - for free.

By Jiongyan Z

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Jan 29, 2017

A good course for functional programming

By Arjun V

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Jan 2, 2017

Fantastic instructor and a great course!

By Khadush D

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Mar 23, 2022

pretty informative and also challenging

By Oļegs K

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Nov 5, 2018

Very valuable and naturally interesting