Majoring in Genetics and Molecular Biology, I were fortunate enough to meet one of my lecturer who works primarily on Next Generation Sequencing and its downstream analysis. Knowing the importance of how computer science will be in the near future and its power, he urges us to learn about programming and suggests us to extend our semester to take some programming courses from my university. It was the first time I heard about those words: Linux, big data, programming languages such as Java, Python et cetera.

I started searching about some summer courses in my university and also other part time courses from other universities in my countries, but none of them is satisfactory. And then I found coursera, and decided to register for this course - Programming for Everybody. It is really a great solution, I don't have to extend my semester, I can learn something so useful to my major yet it is not included in my own course program, and most importantly, I can learn whenever I am free and proceed in my own pace. In this way I find it easier to figure out things which I am confused of and clear them out before I think I am ready for the next.

Dr. Chuck is indeed one of the most inspiring and encouraging lecturer I have ever met. Clear explanation, and step by step guidance, he clears all doubts in an interesting way. It is his humour that helps me to remember things. Programming can be boring and dull, it is so technical, imagine that you have to follow a certain number of rules to talk to someone, but Dr. Chuck makes sense out of it (I still remember the first lecture: while you think you are joking with python, it says syntax error).

As my first programming course, I really learn a lot from Dr. Chuck, a lot more than I expected to. I truly appreciate all the efforts made by Dr. Chuck and his teams, and also, the teams behind Coursera. Thank you.

**Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)** is a great course for beginners in the world of programming. It covers the basics of Python programming, such as variables, data types, functions, and loops, in a clear and concise way. The instructor, Dr. Charles Severance, is very engaging and makes the material easy to understand. One of the things I liked best about the course was that it was very hands-on. There are many exercises and programming assignments throughout the course, which help students solidify their understanding of the material. The course also includes a number of projects, which give students the opportunity to apply their skills to real-world problems. Another great thing about the course is that it is very flexible. Students can work at their own pace and can access the course materials from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes the course ideal for students who are working full-time or who have other commitments. Overall, I highly recommend Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) to anyone who is interested in learning to code in Python. It is a great course for beginners and provides a solid foundation in the basics of Python programming. Here are some specific things that I found helpful about the course: * The instructor is very clear and concise in his explanations. * The course is well-organized and easy to follow. * The exercises and programming assignments are challenging and helpful. * The projects are interesting and relevant. * The course is flexible and can be completed at your own pace. If you are a beginner to programming, I highly recommend checking out Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python). It is a great way to learn the basics of Python programming and to start your journey into the world of coding.

If anyone is unsure where and how to start and feel like they aren't very "tech-savvy", this class is the place to start. Best Computer Science intro class I had taken without the pressure of learning the more technical stuff. Professor Severance introduced coding with very simple and layman terms. I came in hesitant and unsure if coding was within my reach, and after taking his course I am not only amazed with how much I was able to understand, but am looking forward to learning more. His lectures are easy, short and to-the-point, no computer jargon or overly complicated terms. And the assignments push you enough to really understand the new concepts he is teaching. Rather than just coding, he is teaching us to to be hyper-aware of our writing, how a computer interprets it and its affect in the end result in our code. If he is teaching any other classes in Python I will definitely take them. If not, I feel like I have a solid foundation to continue my self studies. I was very lost where to begin in my desire to learning coding.

Thank you very much Professor Severance, your passion and desire for people to learn coding through Python shines through this course. I appreciate your effort to make learning such a foreign area of study (to most people) much more approachable, and even coming alongside in sympathizing with our frustrations. Learning something new is difficult, but having a teacher who understands this and wants to help the student is beyond what a student can ask for of his/her teacher.

Again if you have had a desire to learn coding and thought it was impossible, feeling lost going through all the different youtube videos and forums. Take this course! It'll give you that basic foundation in learning to code without being overwhelmed by technical jargon.

I have just finished the "Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" course as part of the Python for Everybody Specialization on Coursera, and I must say, it is one of the best introductory courses to Python programming I've come across.

This course served as a fantastic stepping stone into the world of Python. What stood out to me was the structure of the course. The flow from basics to more advanced topics was gradual and natural, making it easy to follow along and grasp concepts clearly. Even with no prior coding experience, I found myself not just understanding, but truly enjoying the process of learning.

The instructor, Prof. Charles Severance, is a fantastic educator. His teaching style is engaging and interactive, and he has a knack for making complex topics seem simple and accessible. His enthusiasm for the subject is infectious and certainly enhanced my learning experience.

Moreover, the hands-on exercises and assignments were a valuable part of the course. They provided an opportunity to put the theoretical concepts into practice, reinforcing my understanding and increasing my confidence in coding.

I also appreciated the robust community surrounding this course. The discussion forums were incredibly helpful, allowing students to interact, ask questions, and share insights. The sense of community made the learning experience even more enjoyable and fruitful.

For anyone looking to start their Python programming journey, I cannot recommend this course highly enough. It's not just about learning to code; it's about understanding the logic and beauty behind it. My completion of "Programming for Everybody" has left me feeling accomplished and eager to continue my Python learning journey.

From start I know Coursera is one of the best online platform to learn things in quicker, proper, and smarter manner although I am not a newbie in programming but doesn't know how to code in python that is only reason I choose this course after seeing the ratings of the course I am eager to join this course. And as expected this course is far more better than my expectation and the Instructor of this course is really very good.

Charles Severance is one of the best teacher on online platform, I go through, really enjoyed the way he taught to us. His techniques, his way of teaching is something which makes him unique, and may be that's the reason most of student enjoy to attend hi course. I love the way he start teaching from the scratch and cover almost everything which is either required for course or essential for us. I have completed this seven week course in just within two weeks because I loved the way Professor Charles Severance teaches.

I am glad to attend this course and looking forward to attend the further courses by Doctor Charles Severance, continuing this series of Python learning. At last I would like to suggest all of aspirants want to learn python to go though this course at least once.

I loved various blogs in the end of every weeks either it is interview of any one or just a fun blog of office tours of Bangalore, Paris, Milan ,Seoul etc.

At last I wanna to thanks Coursera for providing this course to us and I would also like to thanks Michigan University for providing this course to us . Thank you Coursera and thanks to Michigan University to providing us such a wonderful course.

THANK YOU :)

Has many high-quality university courses fromtop U.S. universitiessuch as Stanford, Princeton, and Yale as well as international institutions such as the University of London and HEC Paris.Course feesare not immediately shown on the Coursera course pages, unfortunately. To view the fee, you have to click on "Enroll" and register for the platform. This will display the individual price for the course (for paid courses).If you want to take a course without a certificate for free, you can choose the "Audit" option for many courses (when registering for the course).Course series of several online courses are calledSpecializations. These require payment of a fee (monthly subscription, don't forget to cancel!). However, you can often take the individual courses of the series free of charge (without a certificate).Anyone enrolling for a paid course or Specialization will get access to a7-day trial period. If you are a quick learner, you can sometimes complete a course within the trial phase (and thus possibly even receive a certificate for free!).Some (not all) of thePersonal Development / Career courseshave been criticized by users as being rather superficial. Anyone who is already working and has an academic degree may not learn much in some of these courses.A clear advantage over other course platforms is theeasy navigationwithin courses. Videos, tests, discussion forums and further reading materials are easily accessible.For some courses, a final exam with an assessment by other students is required (Peer Assessment). This often works well, but for smaller courses with fewer participants, it may take some time to get adequate feedback for your work.

Hello there, If you want to learn Python and looking for the best Python course on Coursera, or you are just wondering if the Python for Everybody course from the University of Michigan on Coursera is worth your time and money then you have come to the right place.

Earlier, I have shared the best Coursera certifications for Python and In this post, we will review Python for Everybody from the University of Michigan, one of the best Coursera specialization, and certification for Python developers.

You should read this review before you join any Python online course but if you are in a hurry and want a quick Yes/No answer whether you should join this Coursera specialization or not then our answer is Yes, by all means, you should go for it.

This is one of the most comprehensive Python courses on Coursera and covers all the necessary areas like basics, data structure, database, web scrapping with python, and much more. More than 750K people have already joined this course which is also a big proof of its quality. Many people say that learning a programming language can be a difficult task and can take months and months to learn even the basics so then you start developing your own products whether it was a web service or a mobile app but what if I say that there is a language that can be learned in a few weeks and that language called python. Throughout many research in many platforms and online courses, I have found one of the best and comprehensive online courses to learn this fabulous language and called Python for everybody specialization offered from the Michigan university through an online platform known as Coursera.

When I started this course I had a very little knowledge about programming. Frankly when I started to do the first lesson, I felt very nervous thinking whether I was able to complete this because this is my first programming course that I ever took. Today, I am very happy that I was able to successfully finished the course making me adequately enough individual to write a simple block of code in Python. I believe this is all due to the way and the amount of course material provided in this course. Videos are not too long or too short. The length of all the videos are just right. I simply cannot resist to mention I love the instructor’s writings on slides/screen. Those writings really helped me to understand theories and concepts of each lesson. Besides, those made me to feel that I was in an actual classroom.

Text book is written in very simple, clear and concise English making me to read whole chapter after each lesson without getting distracted or bored. The exercises provided at the end of each chapter are appropriate and gave me a chance to practice the concepts that I have already learnt.

The amount of course material provided for each lesson was just right for me. That is why I was able to absorb the material very easily and also was able to meet all the deadlines on time.

I have become unemployed due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. This course helped me greatly to engage myself and learn a new skill during this difficult and stressful time. This inspired me to take more programming courses in the future. Thank you Dr. Severance!! Thanks so much for offering this course in Coursera !!!

by Brandt completed this course, spending 1 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be very easy.

This is the first class in the new (at the time I took it) Python for Everybody specialization, which grew out of Dr. Charles Severence's popular course of the same name. As I understand it, the first two courses of this specialization will cover the material from the previous course, while the third and fourth courses and the capstone will cover new material.

This is a very gentle introduction to programming in Python. The videos are very thorough, and Dr. Chuck does a good job of going over everything he's teaching in great detail. As I had a fair amount of experience in R and some experience with Python (Codecademy course and Genomic Data Science with Python course), I found this to be very easy, and I raced through the class in a few hours, listening to the videos on 2x speed. One of the big problems I have with this course and similar ones (like the Rice Python courses) is the use of web-based coding platforms. While they're useful for real-time checking of code, students who learn to use these platforms may end up completely lost if they try to go apply their programming experience from these courses to a real-world problem. I would much prefer to see programming taught via command line or using an IDE like Spyder.

Overall, four stars. Very thorough, very slow-paced. I imagine that finishing this specialization will only get students to the novice programmer stage, but it is a good first step, and probably the most approachable programming course out there for those with no experience.

I recently completed this course, and I must say it was absolutely awesome! The course provided an excellent foundation for anyone looking to start their journey in Python programming.

First and foremost, the course content was comprehensive and well-structured. It covered all the essential concepts of the language, from variables and data types to control flow and functions. The explanations were clear and concise, making it easy to understand even for beginners like myself. The course also included practical examples and coding exercises, which greatly enhanced my learning experience.

One aspect that stood out was the instructor's expertise and teaching style. They had a deep understanding of Python and effectively conveyed their knowledge in an engaging manner. The instructor's enthusiasm and passion for the subject were infectious, making each lesson enjoyable and inspiring.

Furthermore, the course platform was user-friendly and provided ample resources for further exploration. The interactive quizzes and assignments helped reinforce my understanding, while the discussion forums allowed me to connect with fellow learners and seek assistance when needed.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the "Getting Started with Python" course to anyone interested in learning Python. It's an excellent starting point that equips you with the necessary skills to pursue more advanced programming concepts. Kudos to the instructor and the entire team for creating such a fantastic learning experience!

I highly recommend the "Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" course. It is an excellent resource for beginners looking to dive into the world of programming. The course is designed in a way that is accessible to everyone, regardless of their prior programming experience.

The instructor does a fantastic job of explaining concepts clearly and concisely, making it easy to understand even for those who have never written a single line of code before. The course starts from the basics and gradually progresses to more advanced topics, allowing learners to build a solid foundation in Python programming.

One of the standout features of this course is its interactive nature. It offers hands-on exercises and coding assignments that provide ample opportunities to practice what you've learned. This practical approach helps reinforce the concepts and ensures that you gain real-world programming skills.

Furthermore, the course materials, including lecture videos, slides, and additional resources, are well-organized and easily accessible. This makes it convenient to review previous topics or revisit specific sections whenever needed.

Overall, "Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" is a fantastic course for anyone interested in learning Python programming. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the language and equips you with the fundamental skills needed to pursue further studies in programming or to start building your own projects.

Best Introduction to Python introductory course I have ever taken. I had taken python at University over a year ago in my second year but I had never really grasped the syntax and meaning of it all , and i never really liked the random youtube tutorials with no assignmets. I took this course due to my recent interest in Machine learning and Data Science. I was able to take it from the beginning, completeall the quizes and assignments all in one day with a few breaks here and there!. Most coding assignments were really simple and they give you a starting code from where to build on. The last Coding assignent (Week 7) was simple but needed one to first understand what exactly is needed, you can re-watch the while loops video again if needed. It took me a little bit more time compared to the rest which I finished in just minutes on average. I had to rest a little bit and come back to it as I had taken the whole course in one sitting. Here Dr. Severance does a very good job of explaining in avery clear and structured manner. I've got to complete the rest of the courses in the specialization. Assignments did a good job of re-enforcing what I have studied. There's no clearly and easily explained python introductory course with practice coding questions you gonna find on the Internet better than this one. Highly recommended for a complete beginner. If you're passed the beginner level, this course won't be of very much use though.

My online classes are a convenience for me. They allow me to take additional classes that would not have fit into my schedule otherwise. I am not a traditional student, so I have non-traditional needs. Internet classes allow me to remain at home with my family. Taking Internet classes has many advantages for a non-traditional, and traditional student, such as: saving money, saving time, and most of all the convenience. Internet classes are the answer for many students with non-traditional needs. However, the only downfall to my Internet class was a computer virus, which was disastrous. I lost everything on my computer, but as for the important files I had backup on floppies. I was lucky, my sister-in-law came within a few days and fixed my computer, so I did not get too far behind. This situation should be considered when taking an Internet class. In my experience with Internet classes, the good far outweigh the bad. Taking Internet classes has saved me money. If I were taking traditional classes, I would be spending about twenty dollars a week in gas alone, not to mention the wear and tear on my car. The only expense that I incur with Internet classes is my server charge, which is about twenty-five dollars a month. That means by taking Internet classes I am saving over eighty dollars a month, and that does not include wear and tear on my car. I could finance a new computer with the savings from taking online classes.

This is a great course. The teacher not only knows his material, but has a lot of experience working with first time programmers and so knows what errors they are likely to make and what questions they are likely to ask and addresses them all. He is fun to listen to, unlike some moocs I have taken where the teachers were reading and got the intonation all wrong--very distracting. This one wasn't like that by far. He was interesting and even funny at times. The only issue I have is that if you are auditing the class, it isn't as nice an experience. You can't submit quizzes to see if you got them right and all your coding problems are marked wrong. You can still do the coding and the website will error check and all, but you won't get the pass/fail grade to be sure you got it right.

The videos covers what's in the book, but in an easy to understand way, so when you read the chapter associated with it, you can follow along without it being too dry or laborious. Then you are ready for the quiz and coding problem(s), and then a little wrap up material before moving on to the next lesson. I'm glad we are allowed to work ahead. I'm moving on to the second course in the specialization, which picks up where this one left off. If you want to learn Python or just "a" programming language to get a start or just dabble in programming, this is a great place to start!

I like this program mucho! Yes, you can learn Python from a book or from an automated, text-based course. But the videos by Dr. Chuck give the course the human touch and a real-world college feel. With a human in the loop, slight and useful nuances of coding and perspective on coding come through subtly and informally, beyond what text alone can provide. -- My only hangup was with the Autograder, the automated checker of submitted programs. For the final program I delivered output as required. My code was syntactically and semantically correct. However I had to rewrite my code several times to fit the hidden requirements of the tool. That was frustrating. To resolve the problem I went to the Forum and received prompt feedback on my efforts. Again, the human support aspect of Coursera distinguishes it from other tools. On the way to resolution, I did get feedback on alternate and cleaner ways to code. Thanks very much to those that monitored and respond to the forum. -- I am VERY HAPPY with my experience with Coursera and this course. I am very excited: I feel empowered and confident that I can achieve my goals of not only acquiring a good, basic foundation of programming (Algorithms, Data Structures, etc.) but continue to advanced and current topics (Machine Learning, Big Data, etc.) Thanks to all!

I recently completed the " Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" course and I couldn't be more impressed with the material covered. The instructor does an excellent job of breaking down the complex concepts of programming and making them easy to understand for anyone with moderate computer experience.

The course starts off by introducing the idea of why we program and sets the stage for the rest of the material. The instructor also guides us through the process of installing and using Python, which was incredibly helpful.

One of the things I appreciated most about this course was the progression of the material. Each chapter builds upon the previous one and by the end of the course, I felt confident in my ability to write basic Python programs. The chapters on variables, expressions, conditional code, functions and loops were particularly informative and I found myself excited to try out the new concepts I had learned.

The quizzes and assignments were also a great way to solidify my understanding of the material. Overall, I found the course to be well-structured and engaging. I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to learn the basics of programming with Python. It is an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to take more advanced programming courses in the future.

This is the first python course that I take. Before that, I had already taken a course in VBA programming(also from the university of Michigan via Coursera). So the notions were not new to me.At first, I found the contents of the chapters 1 and 2 boring and I wanted to do something more advanced like statistics with Python. After struggling and failing at all my attempts to escape the basics of the language, I decided to come back to this course and I finished it. Here are my remarks :*The course is really well organized and suited to a beginner's need because the key concepts of any programming language are explained once at a time. There are also small assignments to allow the students to better familiarize with the concept.*The quizzes and assignments are clearly aligned with the concept studied, which facilitates the finding and correction of mistakes, thus allowing the student to build confidence.*The subtleties pertaining to each concept , especially conditional execution and functions are clearly explained and reviwed in the quizzes and programming assignments.*You will learn how to access your file by referring to its directory using the command prompt, which is unique. (I had never seen it before)The motto of Dr Chuck seems to be : slowly but surely.

This is a great course. The teacher not only knows his material, but has a lot of experience working with first time programmers and so knows what errors they are likely to make and what questions they are likely to ask and addresses them all. He is fun to listen to, unlike some moocs I have taken where the teachers were reading and got the intonation all wrong--very distracting. This one wasn't like that by far. He was interesting and even funny at times. I worked through all the materials, including reading the chapters in the book in just four days. I'd say there is about 2 to 4 hours of work per "week" expected. So, great course. I'm glad to have the materials. The videos covers what's in the book, but in an easy to understand way, so when you read the chapter associated with it, you can follow along without it being too dry or laborious. Then you are ready for the quiz and coding problem(s), and then a little wrap up material before moving on to the next lesson. I'm glad we are allowed to work ahead. I'm moving on to the second course in the specialization, which picks up where this one left off. If you want to learn Python or just "a" programing language to get a start or just dabble in programming, this is a great place to start

I'm still in a mid-level status of programming and Python is one of the languages. As of now, I have completed the Python for Everybody specialization on Coursera and I recommend this course for complete beginners willing to start learning Python programming. The course is well structured and the explanations are not only precise but also clear and to the point. Dr. Charles Severance is great in making the tough lessons simple to understand for everyone. The training starts with the simplest Python syntax and goes, conquering such topics as databases, web scraping, APIs, and others. Moreover, a handful of good examples and practical programming tasks were present, which helped me develop skills to use useful knowledge in real life. The course structure is at a good step with numerous hands on practice providing coding exercises. The quizzes and assignments were fun and most importantly, helped me appreciate what I had learned. Regardless if you have some prior programming experience or none at all, this course is a great self-help tool. What makes it even better is the fact that learning can be self-paced. All in all, it is an excellent learning package that I would certainly recommend!

I recently completed the "Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" course offered by the University of Michigan on Coursera, and I can confidently say that it was a fantastic learning experience.

The course covered a wide range of topics, from the basics of Python programming to more advanced concepts like file handling and data structures. The lectures were clear, concise, and easy to follow, and the assignments and quizzes provided ample opportunities to practice and reinforce what I'd learned.

What impressed me most about the course was the level of support and engagement provided by the instructors and the community. The forums were active and full of helpful advice, and the instructors were always available to answer questions and provide feedback on assignments.

Overall, I would highly recommend the "Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)" course to anyone looking to learn Python programming, whether you're a complete beginner or already have some experience. It's a well-designed and effective course that will provide you with a solid foundation in Python and prepare you for more advanced studies in programming and data science.

5 stars all around!

The Python playground is amazing, but it isn't even necessary because the instructor provides such great material for getting Python installed and running on your computer (with windows, mac, and linux instructions), even a complete beginner would be able to follow the instructions and make a functioning script in no time. But the playground is just a lot of fun to play with, and makes tinkering as a beginner super easy.I spent one whole day and finished the entire Getting Started with Python course (auditing, quizzes), and learned more than I learned in the first 4 weeks of a 6 week paid course. Dr. Chuck is GOOD at what he does. He presents material in a very down-to-earth manner in clear, plain language that's technical, but not over my head. I have very little experience with programming, and know the basics of computers and computing, but even the introduction to hardware architecture was fascinating and I learned more about hardware than I expected. I felt a lot more prepared to dive into programming after that lecture.The amazing thing is that so much is crammed into such short lectures, and yet the material is still accessible.

This is a review of the first og five parts in the Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python. It deserves 5 stars. The video tutorials are great and informative and the course also includes PowerPoint slides used in the lectures, the complete book which can be downloaded, quizzes and assignments, an autograder for the assignments and a playground where you can try out your Python skills and examples covered in the lectures. And, even though I haven't used it, a discussion group categorized in weeks (for the different topics covered), where both students and staff are very active. There really isn't a negative side, but if I where to mention something, it would be that I am guessing the PowerPoint slides originally where used for Python 2.7, because some of them have not been updated all the way, to Python 3. And, even though some of the quiz questions are very simple, some harder questions should be available, to make us prepare more. And of course, a few more assignments per week would help boost our confidence, even though I know we could do that on our own. Great course and great teacher.

This course is a super introduction to Python programming, especially if you have little or no prior programming experience.

I took othe course for two reeasons:

i) To keep myself occupied during Covid lockdown 2.0 in Ireland and;

ii) To do a course that was outside of my comfort zone.

The lectures are delivered in a ligical manner with the content being easy to understand.

The quizes check your understanding of each lecture. I recommend that you complete the quizes as soon as you finsh the lecture while the content is 'fresh' in your mind.

The assignments can be challenging; for me; it took a few attempts to get them right. Sometime, it's easy to forget all the syntax requirements. that said, as you complete each assignemnt, your confidence builds up. If at first you struggle with an assignment, leave it for a few hours or a day, then, come back to it. While I did not use them regularly, the online forums are a useful source of encouragement with other students.

In conclusion, a well-designed Python programming course that is easy follow and build up your confidence with Python.

First off, let me say that this course is excellent. I've been interested in learning to program for a few months now. I tried things like Codecademy and Code School -- and while I learned a little bit from each of them, Python for Everybody was the key to my success of finally grasping the language.

There are a few reasons for this:

1. Dr. Chuck is awesome! His lessons are light-hearted, thorough, and truly make programming fun. He is the type of professor who is doing this for the love of Python and that really stands out.

2. This course encourages you to work in your own environment. While being able to learn to code in a browser is fun and interesting...using your own machine and your own terminal to execute Python is essential. Plus, you feel like a real programmer! Which really is cool when you're just starting out. It gives you the motivation to keep going. It did for me anyway.

If you're on the fence about this course, take it from another developer-in-training. Dr. Chuck's Python for Everybody is one of the best classes I've ever taken. You'll be glad you did.

I learned more in this course than the introductory course I paid for through a private company. The assignments are practical and helpful, and most of all: Dr. Chuck is truly amazing. He presents technical information in a clear way using plain language, and makes it easy to pick up the Python lingo (and programming lingo in general). He is a clear speaker who doesn't talk too fast, and his teaching slides are helpful and easy to follow. The interactive transcripts and closed captioning are high quality and extremely helpful. This class was so great that I decided to sign up (pay) for the full specialization program.

I whizzed through all the course materials in a day, but I had a (very) little bit of introductory experience before coming to this course. I believe someone without any programming experience whatsoever could comfortably complete this course well within the suggested time frame.

Honestly I can't believe it doesn't cost anything to take (audit) a course of this caliber. If you're considering taking this class, I don't think you'll regret it.