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Back to Programming Languages, Part A

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

4.9
stars
1,879 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

JF

Mar 14, 2023

Excellent course and teacher. I love that all of it was 100% accessible for free, and that it was both fun and challenging, yet very doable for most people who do their work and had prior experience.

YZ

Dec 2, 2016

I'm just a beginner for CS or SE classes, and find this course really concise and challenging. It opens a door for me to get deeper into programming language. No wonder it got so high average score.

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251 - 275 of 547 Reviews for Programming Languages, Part A

By Anas S

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Oct 27, 2022

This is the best course on Programming Languages theory, that I think I might cry when it ends =(

By Akash B P

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Sep 22, 2018

The professor's enthusiasm for programming languages rubbed off on me. Can't wait to start Part B

By Gianluca N

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Aug 30, 2023

A very interesting course also for professional programmer. If you enjoy coding you' ll love it.

By awwab

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Dec 11, 2024

great course, needs your focus and attention but teaches you good concepts, I'm here from OSSU!

By Meyer S

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Aug 16, 2022

This course is realy good. I learned more from this course then any programming course so far.

By Shaun G

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Jan 3, 2022

Incredible course! Very well put together and organized. Vastly improved my programming skills.

By Rizwan Q

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Jun 12, 2020

i thoroughly enjoyed the course, the instructor was very good and made the whole experience fun

By Ervin L

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Jan 30, 2017

Fantastic course from Prof. Grossman. Would recommend to anyone interested in Computer Science.

By Jeff T

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Feb 22, 2018

Course materials and videos very good. A wonderful experience for this old coder! Thank you!

By feynman w

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Oct 15, 2016

Great course. You can learn the most import concepts about the functional programming language

By Quynh P

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Jan 7, 2022

I loved the course but expect to have a hard time to get people to peer review you!!! XD XD

By Bianca D

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Nov 17, 2020

Excellent course! Dan is a brilliant teacher. It's amazing how much you learn from this mooc.

By shaahin k

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Apr 12, 2019

the idea of start by sml is briliant and very helpful about the base of programming languages

By Sixiang C

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Aug 30, 2017

This is good first course in Funtional programming.

The materials and exercises are excellent.

By Ahmed E

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Mar 18, 2020

Very good and organized course material, with really amazing teaching by prof. Dan Grossman

By Orlando S

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Feb 13, 2017

Good course to improve software development undestanding functional programming languages

By Vinicius A V d S

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Sep 2, 2019

A challenging rewarding course, a must-have for aspiring programmers. I learned a lot.

By Ziyang G

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Aug 27, 2018

It was super fun and helpful to get to know the basic ideas of functional programming.

By Stan Z

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Dec 16, 2016

Excellent course. I wanted to learn ML for a long time. Planning to take Part B and C

By Dante F

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Sep 26, 2023

A litle fast but with a lot of many important concepts inside. Thanks Prof. Grossman

By Nilson C

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Mar 2, 2023

I really liked, especially for the didactic and the way that the course was planned.

By Vivek N

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Jun 9, 2019

This is a fantastic and ground breaking course. A must in every programmer's toolbox

By Patrick B

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Dec 19, 2018

Excellent overview of SML and great introduction to functional programming concepts.

By Liao T

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Jun 26, 2018

Great content for programming language, but too many videos seem to be overwhelming.

By Marcelo d S

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Sep 17, 2016

Excellent course on programming language: functions, recursion, currying, closure...