
Ask HN: Which Coursera courses/specializations you recommend? - quotz
I am a recent grad with beginner knowledge in programming. I wanna get into programming seriously, and my former university is sponsoring all my coursera certifications. Which ones should I do over the summer?
======
striker_axel
I would recommend Andrew Ng's Deep Learning Course.
[https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-
learning](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning)

This course is extremely good mostly because it covers the essential
theoretical topics and gives some practical advice. TIP: do solve the
assignments bcz it will clear a lot of concepts while solving it. ( or other
solution can be found on github )

~~~
kelvin0
I strongly second that and also Andrew Ng's : Machine Learning course.

The only thing that was annoying for me was that the Jupyter assignment auto-
grader would incorrectly fail correct answers and it's not always easy to
debug the reason why it failed. If the python syntax deviates too much from
the expected answer, it also can cause some issues. Please note: I am a very
experienced programmer and have been using python for more than a decade. This
was not my first rodeo...

Otherwise this should in no way be a deal breaker, the material and
assignments are top-notch. The forums are also helpful in finding out issues
with the auto-grader.

Worth every penny and minute invested!

~~~
freewilly1040
Can you comment on whether it'd be best to jump straight into the deep
learning course, or is it better to do the machine learning course first?

~~~
ganstyles
I went through it, really enjoyed it. But I had experience in the same subject
matter before taking it. If you have some ML experience, I would recommend
diving straight in for a good breadth-first look at deep learning topics. If
you don't have any ML experience or don't really know the concepts, I would
recommend taking their other course first (Intro to AI, or AI for Everyone, or
w/e -- which I skimmed to see if it was something I should recommend to
others, and I liked it).

------
xenocratus
Dan Boneh's Cryptography I course:
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/crypto](https://www.coursera.org/learn/crypto)

I started learning about crypto from this one and found it well taught and
detailed - he really goes into more rigorous proofs and attack models etc.
When I did it (some 4-5 years ago) the assignments were also really
challenging and fun, proper programming assignments.

~~~
chris_j
I second this. Probably the best online course I've ever done. Very
challenging but very rewarding. I'm looking forward to hopefully doing
Cryptography II... One day.

Check out Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup's work-in-progress textbook here:
[http://toc.cryptobook.us/](http://toc.cryptobook.us/)

------
yaj54
As it happens I have catalogued and ranked all mentions of Coursera courses on
Hacker News - you'll note that many of the mentions in this current discussion
appear there as well.

HN Academy: [https://yahnd.com/academy/](https://yahnd.com/academy/)

I've also more recently done the same thing with mentions of Coursera on
Reddit: [https://reddsera.com](https://reddsera.com)

Hope it helps!

~~~
AlchemistCamp
I'd be very wary about this kind of resource given that Coursera is almost
completely different from what it was 5 years ago. Some courses have been
removed. More things have been pay-gated, including automated test suites for
programming assignments.

A comment from HN years ago about a Coursera course may well be misleading in
2020.

~~~
yaj54
Very true. I try to mitigate this in some ways on my site, but it is certainly
not perfect.

------
ducaale
1\. CS50 [difficulty level: medium, has certificate: Yes]
[https://www.edx.org/course/cs50s-introduction-to-computer-
sc...](https://www.edx.org/course/cs50s-introduction-to-computer-science)

2\. Algorithms [difficulty level: hard, has certificate: No]
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-
part1](https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1)

3\. Nand2Tetris [difficulty level: ok, has certificate: Yes]
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-
computer](https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-computer)

------
jp0d
Why is almost every answer on this thread is related to Machine Learning. The
question was about programming. There is 3 part series from University of
Washington on programming languages covering Standard ML, Racket and Ruby. It
compares and contrasts functional programming and Object oriented programming
in detail by teaching 3 different languages. I believe this is a great
resource to start with. Here is the link. -->
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/programming-
languages](https://www.coursera.org/learn/programming-languages)

~~~
jp0d
I did part of the ML course. I've been pondering over which language to choose
to advance my functional programming journey. I've been torn between choosing
Lispy variants such as Scheme, Racket, Clojure etc or the ML variants such
Scala, SML, OCaml, F# or go nuts and do Haskell! :D But I'm a data analyst by
profession and I'm 35 years old. So I need to choose something wisely. I'm
studying statistics at the moment and the most wise choice for me is R. I
already do some work on Python. R is based on Scheme and has a lot of
functional aspects. Some of the answers related to Machine Learning here are
relevant to me. But for the question, I also believe the Washington University
course is a strong contender. Hopefully, I'll have the time in future to learn
some of it.

------
vector_rotcev
I have completed both of the following:

1) [https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-
learn](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)

2) [https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-
learning](https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning)

I highly recommend both of them, if they cover a subject you're interested in,
though if you only have time for one, they are listed in descending priority
order.

Given how low it's time+energy requirements are, and how large the pay-off has
been, I recommend Learning How to Learn by Dr. Barbara Oakley to everyone
regardless.

~~~
aynyc
I did Learning How To Learn twice and I still not sure how helpful it is. The
only thing I found useful/applicable is spaced repetition.

What part of the course do you feel it's valuable? I don't mind going back to
do it again.

~~~
AlchemistCamp
The focused vs diffuse thinking part was very useful for me.

~~~
aynyc
How do you apply this? Let's say we want to learn a new programming language.
I should spend time focus on a topic, then how do I apply diffused thinking
here?

~~~
libertine
I learned to value physical activity for diffuse thinking, and related to it
when I unconsciously feel the urge get up and walked around the room when
thinking about some subjects I've learned.

------
pul
The first two course of the specialization on functional programming by
Scala's founding father is worth your time if you're into that. I remember it
being quite challenging, but gives you a thorough grasp of FP, and a new
language in your toolkit.

[https://www.coursera.org/specializations/scala](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/scala)

~~~
ctoomey
+1

------
JamesBarney
This isn't coursera, but it is so good I felt compelled to mention it, fast.ai
is fantastic.

~~~
lifeslogit
Seconding this. fast.ai has greatly emphasized practical approaches for those
interested in building deep learning applications. While I haven't completed
their Deep Learning from the Foundations course, I don't know of any other
course that goes as in-depth on the fascinating topic of building your own
Deep Learning API.

------
ctoomey
The Stanford algorithms specialization
([https://www.coursera.org/specializations/algorithms](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/algorithms))
is outstanding. Professor Roughgarden is the best instructor I've ever had,
online or in person. He's got infectious enthusiasm about the topic and does a
great job explaining the algorithms and how to analyze and understand them.

------
ctnb
Software Design and Architecture Specialization:
[https://www.coursera.org/specializations/software-design-
arc...](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/software-design-architecture)

I learned so much in these courses that cover OOD, design patterns, and
architecture in a real world and practical way. I found it one of the best
taught courses I've taken.

~~~
dxsh
Is there a reason the course uses Java and not Kotlin for developing a app?

------
manishsharan
Can anyone recommend a course for someone looking to move from senior software
engineer/architect role to a technology management role in a traditional bank
? I am comfortable in Technology delivery but I need a guide map to
successfully traverse the organizational politics and egos and policies. I
know I need help with those soft skills.

~~~
iamchris
For soft skills, I would recommend reading The Case for Servant Leadership by
Ken Keith. Take the Strengths Finder survey and get the full assessment. If
you can afford it, find an executive coach to help you developing a learning
plan to develop your soft skills. Also look for networking groups that might
have soft skills seminars. I am a board member for one and we meet monthly and
have guest speakers that talk about leadership, communications, networking,
etc.

~~~
throw1234651234
I really wonder if anyone not hand-picked for an Olympic team / for a position
through nepotism ever got ANY benefit from "coaches".

~~~
vessenes
I will treat this as a real question. The answer in my case is yes.

Many, many senior executives, founders and owners benefit from coaching, and
pay at times thousands per hour to be coached. In fact a famous coach in
Silicon Valley was so well loved his coachees (including google founders)
wrote a book about him to thank him.

To paraphrase Dune, the first lesson is learning how to learn.

Put another way, an insightful person rooting for you and kicking your ass can
have a profound impact on your life.

I recommend it!

~~~
throw1234651234
It's a serious question. I see virtually every "coach" as a scam artist who
would be doing what they coach if they could. The few legitimate coaches out
there are prohibitively expensive. Of course, that's just my take on it.

~~~
vessenes
If you log back in, here's how I would think about it. Imagine yourself at
peak personal and work performance. Do you have a sort of a 'type' or person
that comes to mind? e.g. Perhaps you're into building content based
communities, and Alexis Ohanian comes to mind. Find out who advised and
coached Mr. Ohanian in the early days of launching reddit. Can you imagine
wanting that person's input into your life, and how it might help you?

That's the sort of person I'm thinking of when we talk executive coaching.

The other kind, to parody, a sort of failed masseuse and mid-tier office
worker turned coach is not at all the sort that I think would generally move
the needle for someone interested in the tech startup world.

------
bjourne
If you are a beginner you want to start with either Python or Javascript (with
our without HTML). Any course that introduces those languages would be fine.
Don't bother with anything more advanced until you have the fundamentals down.
Also, unless you're already doing it, learn how to touch type.

------
leesec
[https://missing.csail.mit.edu/](https://missing.csail.mit.edu/)

not Coursera but free and extremely valuable.

------
tartoran
Look up Programming Languages, part A and B

~~~
wisam
... and C. But I can see why you dropped Part C. Part A and B were excellent
but C not that much.

Dan Grossman is an excellent educator. You'll probably learn more programming
[languages] concepts than any other beginner's course.

~~~
pezo1919
C is the most important part to me, lol.

------
dgellow
The algorithm specialization was really cool to work through.

------
spookyuser
While not directly related to programming I'm currently doing The science of
wellbeing [https://www.coursera.org/lecture/the-science-of-well-
being/b...](https://www.coursera.org/lecture/the-science-of-well-being/become-
happier-by-learning-applying-psychological-science-1SQxW) and would definitely
recommend it.

------
pieteradejong
good one:

[https://www.coursera.org/learn/python](https://www.coursera.org/learn/python)

------
random31415
I would highly recommend this course - [https://www.udemy.com/course/the-
complete-web-development-bo...](https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-
development-bootcamp/)

~~~
g_delgado14
I appreciate your contribution, but this doesn't answer OP's question.

Secondly, Udemy is notoriously a sham full of copyright infringement. So I
would respectfully ask that folks use alternative learning platforms when
possible.

Here's one of many, many, examples of content theft / copyright infringement:
[https://www.troyhunt.com/the-piracy-paradox-at-
udemy/](https://www.troyhunt.com/the-piracy-paradox-at-udemy/)

------
pknerd
I'd recommend [https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-
learn](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)

~~~
rocgf
I can vouch for this one as well.

------
Thorentis
Stanfords cryptography 1 course is fantastic, highly recommend. Apparently a
more advanced one (crypto 2) is coming out October-ish too.

------
meghdeepr
What would you recommend as the best mathematics course for understanding the
underlying mathematics in machine learning ?

~~~
quotz
There was one called Mathematics for Machine Learning on Coursera check it out
its by Imperial College London

------
TACIXAT
The intro to deep learning using tensorflow is great. It made a lot more stuff
click for me than fast.ai.

