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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Using Python to Access Web Data by University of Michigan

4.8
stars
44,161 ratings

About the Course

This course will show how one can treat the Internet as a source of data. We will scrape, parse, and read web data as well as access data using web APIs. We will work with HTML, XML, and JSON data formats in Python. This course will cover Chapters 11-13 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. To succeed in this course, you should be familiar with the material covered in Chapters 1-10 of the textbook and the first two courses in this specialization. These topics include variables and expressions, conditional execution (loops, branching, and try/except), functions, Python data structures (strings, lists, dictionaries, and tuples), and manipulating files. This course covers Python 3....
Highlights
High quality content

(256 Reviews)

Practical assignments

(217 Reviews)

Top reviews

SM

Jun 18, 2020

This course was really interesting and did a good job introducing complicated topics in usefully simplified form. It was a pleasure to listen to the instructor and I got everything I wanted out of it.

AB

Jun 6, 2019

Getting a bit more challenging than the earlier courses in the specialization. The exercises require more struggle, but all the information is there. Another step along the way. Thank you, Dr. Chuck!

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251 - 275 of 7,952 Reviews for Using Python to Access Web Data

By Suman G

Mar 12, 2016

It was an experience for me for a lifetime ! I always dreaded about XML and JSON but this course to an extent removed the fear of XML & JSON of mine. I have to practice a lot in coming days to master XML & JSON and at the same time the Python module "BeautifulSoup".

The course was just gorgeous and our instructor for this course is just great. This is the 3rd course on Python I completed successfully.

By Gaurav B

Mar 23, 2018

Pros

I think this is a great course and the pace is fantastic. Love the insight provided by Dr. Chuck on the practical applications and also the sample code so we can reference it when stuck. He also has a playful way of teaching that makes it fun.

Cons

The peer review method though was a little bit frustrating but it is crowd-sourcing and saves effort from a single resource checking all submissions.

By Pavel M

Nov 22, 2015

I found this course very useful and learnt how use of regular expressions and later used them to parse HTML pages to look at various tags and content. The use of urllib and BeautifulSoup make my life easier to scrape webpages. Finally, I learnt how to parse XML and JSON.

Again, Thank you Dr Chuck and your team for creating such an interesting and exiting course. I have thoroughly enjoyed this.

By Sara L

May 21, 2022

I could really see my progression from courses 1 & 2 coming to fruition in this course. I learned most through doing the assignments and having to fix my errors. It's such a satisfying feeling to see codes run correctly, and knowing exactly what I need to change/erase in a sample code and what to add/modify to make it run according to the assignment brief. So glad I started this specialisation!

By Cindy S

Oct 20, 2018

This course was an interesting look into how the web applications we use everyday store and share data. I am a beginner in this field with no background to computer science and found this course to be fun and comprehensible. I think this course needs more assignments where we practice what we learned, because there is a lot of content that has not been reintroduced since the lecture. Loved it.

By Gustavo O

May 6, 2020

Hi,

I like to thank you, I've completed the first four courses and I am on my way to the capstone projects. To be frank, from where I started to today I have learnt an enormity of things. I've never thought I would learn so much, particularly since programming is so...all thanks to you Dr Chuck you do have a great way of explaining things. Importantly, I am learning and loving it!

Thanks again.

By Marlo

Feb 16, 2019

I loved this course because it highlightes the power of python when it comes to requesting data directly from webpages by means of a few lines of code. This course is more interesting than the previous two from the Specializacion because you have to gather all that you learned to understand the lectures and programming assignments. Exercises are not difficult, but they proved to be insightful

By Juan J R D

Oct 2, 2020

I have been reading too many negative comments and it is true in certain parts it becomes so frustrating but waiting for the programming is not easy if you do not pay attention to it. Chuck teaches very well and I had fun in my frustrations LOL because they made me challenge myself to do how to do it and how to implement it I will continue until I finish the 5 courses

print ('Thanks Chuck')

By Alicia H

May 7, 2018

I have truly enjoyed learning the python language with all of the courses in the Python for everyone specialization! This course in particular has been the "Aha" moment for me in terms of really grasping the language and feeling comfortable and confident with it. Thank you Dr. Chuck, and everyone involved with the creation of these courses. 3 down, 2 to go! See you at the next course!

By GANJI M S

Jan 23, 2017

I feel this course is very useful for someone who is new to python and Dr. Chuck's way of teaching is very good. I felt that only young graduates or IT professionals will take the course, but i was surprised after seeing in the bonus videos that many experienced professionals are also taking this course. I strongly recommend this course to someone new to programming. Thank you, Dr. Chuck.

By Carlos J B A

Mar 8, 2019

I have decided to complete this course because I feel that what I have been able to contribute throughout these weeks has simply been incredible. I have been able to acquire new skills that I am sure will help me achieve my goals. The challenges I have had in this course have helped me to become a better version. I appreciate immensely the work they do day by day in education. Thank you.

By Dev T A N

Sep 1, 2020

Using Python to Access Web Data" was definitely more challenging than its predecessors in the specialization but it gave me a good taste for how even a simple program in Python can reach out to the world, access meaningful data, and do something useful with it.

It's an amazing course

Thank you Dr. chuck, University of MIchigan and Coursera to offer this course to people across the world.

By Rishikesh P

Aug 14, 2020

Dr. Charles Severence is a great instructor and a wonderful person. He is the only teacher I have seen who aims at changing life and knows the psychology of students to be able to motivate them. The bonus section is wonderful , even though I have not seen all of them , I can tell that they are huge motivation as we get to know the wonderful world of computers. Love you sir. Many thanks.

By Amrutha C

Jul 29, 2020

This is my third course on Coursera Platform. I really enjoyed the course. The course instructor is awesome explaining content very well. The course material and content is also good. I recommend those who'd like to take this course to practice a lot. This course requires a lot of practice. And don't leave anything that is provided in this course. Everything that is provided is useful.

By Marcus S

May 17, 2020

i enjoy the interviews from the old days and learn a bit of the history. The assignments have been designed very well, i.e. I almost lost my mind in week 4, but because of that I learned a lot. for me code is like a computer game and back in the 90ties I stopped because I got totally absorbed by games :) LOVE IT. Will continue with other courses beyond python after I finish this series

By Elinor W

Mar 7, 2018

This is an excellent introduction to the way Python programs interact with the greater Internet and information exchange across platforms. It got me genuinely excited about the development and structure of web systems in a way that I haven't been before, and it's great to actually be able to apply that understanding through the programs that I write with the aid of the course material.

By Mohan B

Sep 28, 2017

The course content is well structured and even non programmers can take it without any issues. The instructor, Charles Severance is great in explaining every topic in detail. The assessments helps to check the knowledge gained. If you are struck any where in the assessment, an instructor is click away to help you. Not to mention, the forums are great way to interact on various topics.

By Shakeel A

Aug 27, 2023

The course nicely introduced the participants to Web access, APIs, XML, HTTP, JSON etc,.

Highly recommended.

One suggestion which I would like to highlight is that more practice sessions must be provided in order for the participants to have better practice and thus the contents we have learned in the course get drilled into our memory as programming and coding is all about practice.

By Haofan S

Aug 1, 2021

This course is really good. The lectures and sample videos are easily understood. The sample codes are helpful and simple. Although you might feel challenge for homeworks, the TA are really helpful. You can use discussion forums to ask questions and usually get replies at the next day. I would be very happy to introduce this course to anybody who is interested in coding with Python.

By mahmood d

Dec 6, 2015

One of the best features in online courses compared to self-learning is pseudo interactive environment through video-lectures. So whenever the professor is capable of providing short, compelling and attractive speech, it's really great. Any reduction of reading means reducing the work of learner. this point is more obvious in programming courses.

This course in this term does great.

By Pratik S K

Jul 24, 2020

Excellent course ! I learnt more about

how to access web using python.

I learnt interesting things like web scraping, json , XML.

The material were very easy to follow and deliver in a very friendly and engaging manner.

I would like to thank instructor Dr. Chuck for making this course amazing and enjoyable.

I highly recommend this course to anyone just getting started in programming.

By swati

Mar 14, 2018

This is a brilliantly designed course for beginner and intermediate level. The assignment difficulty level ranges from easy to medium and reinstates important concepts in every chapter.

Do not subscribe if - 1) You are at advance level for any other programming language.

2) You are a beginner in programming languages and haven't completed previous two courses in the specialization.

By Deleted A

Sep 6, 2017

I am lucky enough to find this online course of programming and meet Python (maybe the easiest programming language in the world). Before I attend this course, I was very reluctant to learn Programming languages and even hated them a little. This class and this magical language changed my mind totally. Therefore, I feel grateful to our respectable professor. Thank you very much

By Karol N

Nov 30, 2016

Every course taught by dr Chuck is a new quality. Substance of the course is little more demanding than previous 2 courses but paradoxically I had a feeling that new topics were taught without going into details... which paradoxically is good for the course. Dr Chuck showed some teasers of Python abilities and if You are more interested in some topics You practice in on your own

By Tonderayi K

Sep 21, 2018

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Chuck's tutorials, for the first time Regular Expressions were explained in a way that made them less intimidating and motivated me to learn more on my own. The inserts of videos about the Internet was also cool. I also learnt several different ways about webscrapping. Before I only knew about Beautifulsoup, now I know more and when to use which tool :)