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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose by Princeton University

4.7
stars
1,310 ratings

About the Course

The basis for education in the last millennium was “reading, writing, and arithmetic;” now it is reading, writing, and computing. Learning to program is an essential part of the education of every student, not just in the sciences and engineering, but in the arts, social sciences, and humanities, as well. Beyond direct applications, it is the first step in understanding the nature of computer science’s undeniable impact on the modern world. This course covers the first half of our book Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach (the second half is covered in our Coursera course Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines). Our intent is to teach programming to those who need or want to learn it, in a scientific context. We begin by introducing basic programming elements such as variables, conditionals, loops, arrays, and I/O. Next, we turn to functions, introducing key concepts such as recursion, modular programming, and code reuse. Then, we present a modern introduction to object-oriented programming. We use the Java programming language and teach basic skills for computational problem solving that are applicable in many modern computing environments. Proficiency in Java is a goal, but we focus on fundamental concepts in programming, not Java per se. All the features of this course are available for free. People who are interested in digging deeper into the content may wish to obtain the textbook Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach (upon which the course is based) or to visit the website introcs.cs.princeton.edu for a wealth of additional material. This course does not offer a certificate upon completion....

Top reviews

PK

Aug 6, 2023

This was a very great course to learn a powerful programming language, techniques used. This has changed my life for better and am looking forward to a career change into the programming world.

PK

Oct 9, 2020

Very useful for programmers, especially beginners. Examples taken to explain the concepts are real-time application oriented which reinforce importance of the concepts!!

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201 - 225 of 367 Reviews for Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose

By Albert C

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May 22, 2020

I loved this course! It got me from zero to hero!

By John D R

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Oct 14, 2024

Great experience. I really enjoyed this class!!

By Haseeya F

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Mar 23, 2025

The course was very helpful to my career growth

By Xu Y

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Sep 22, 2019

This is one of the best courses I had ever had.

By Bruno M C Q

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Dec 31, 2020

Great course, made me use my brain quite a bit

By Maria E M

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Jan 9, 2021

amazing course, help me understand algorithms

By Albrecht W

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Jun 14, 2020

Very good course with challenging assignments

By Shihan C

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Nov 27, 2024

可能收获最多的不是java，而是教授随口一提的内容。我知道了原来泰勒展开就是连续变离散。

By Fikri A N

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May 30, 2022

this course is very good, to know more java

By Minh T P

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Aug 14, 2020

Excellent! I learnt a lot from this course.

By Vassilis M

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Oct 8, 2024

Excellent material, thanks for the course!

By Luciano G

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Sep 23, 2025

Excepcional conhecimento dos professores.

By KRUTIKKUMAR G S

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Jul 21, 2022

op course for programmers starting out !!

By M K N

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Nov 26, 2021

very useful and easy to learn java script

By Mayo C

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Sep 24, 2020

Great course and interesting assignments!

By Sumadhwa G

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Sep 11, 2020

i lov you prof sedgewick and prof wayne

By William X

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Mar 26, 2020

The assignments are designed very well.

By Lyssa L

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Aug 9, 2023

Real great course for me as a beginner

By Rawan A A S

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Nov 11, 2022

An interesting course and worth taking

By Mukul b

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Jul 26, 2021

this is best for learning and practice

By Talgat I

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Feb 22, 2020

Nice introduction to Java programming!

By Aiden T

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Sep 8, 2023

Great course to get into programming!

By Abhinav S

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Mar 22, 2020

An awesome and interactive course <3

By Janusz K

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Jun 8, 2022

Great course. Exellent instructors.

By Soumyajit G

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Dec 21, 2021

good course and easy to uunderstand