
Ask HN: CS courses in NYC - aaaazzzz
Hi, I&#x27;m looking for some advice w.r.t CS courses in NYC.<p>I&#x27;m in my early 30s with a masters in EE. I work in the network&#x2F;security space in NYC where I write some code - basic Python scripts to automate, monitor infra., etc. The most complicated thing I&#x27;ve written is a multi-threaded script that interacts with a REST API. I didn&#x27;t take CS courses at school.<p>I&#x27;ve been thinking about learning some CS fundamentals. It sounds challenging, some of it may be fun and going forward, it&#x27;s going to be tough to survive in the networks&#x2F;security space without programming skills since everything is moving in the direction of software. I&#x27;m not interested in frontend web dev&#x2F;JS. I&#x27;d like to concentrate on backend stuff, preferably using Python but am open to other options.<p>Based on my research, there seem to be at least 3 paths:<p>1. MOOCs&#x2F;Online degrees: The most recommended option. However, I&#x27;m not motivated enough to effectively complete these. This goes against the HN ethos but I prefer a classroom setting (took a certificate course in Python at NYU and it was useful).<p>2. Boot Camps: The only part-time, non Ruby centric, bootcamp I found is Byte Academy. From their information session, they seemed disorganized with the message &quot;you&#x27;ll build a web application, here are some examples&quot;. This doesn&#x27;t seem useful for someone looking to learn CS fundamentals. Does anyone here have experience with Byte Academy?<p>3. Courses at Columbia&#x2F;NYU&#x2F;etc.: I don&#x27;t need a degree but I&#x27;m unsure if taking individual courses is an option. 
 * Couldn&#x27;t find information on Columbia&#x27;s website that suggested that it is.
 * Found http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ptgrad.poly.edu&#x2F; at NYU which seems to allow attending some courses but I&#x27;m not certain.<p>I was hoping to get some advice on the options mentioned above and in case there are other avenues that I should explore. For people familiar with the NYC area, any in-person classes&#x2F;courses that you would recommend?<p>Thank you very much!
======
getup8
I just took Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis at Columbia and really
enjoyed [most of] it. Teacher was great and learned a ton.

I applied to the Postbacc / Continuing Edu program to take it. Was a little
bit of a pain but not too bad.

Courses are not cheap..$7k all in. Ideally you can get work to pay for some or
all..

~~~
aaaazzzz
Thank you! I'll look into this. Do you mind sharing the reason you decided to
take these 2 classes and if you're planning on taking any others? Thanks.

------
jonbaer
Do you attend any Python meetups in the city, some folks there might have good
ideas for paths ... ie:
[https://www.meetup.com/NYDataScientists/events/236709796/](https://www.meetup.com/NYDataScientists/events/236709796/)

