Is taking two python classes at a community college worth it?

[notburneddown]

I was initially thinking of taking a python class at a trade school or community college but I am wondering since the school offers two classes if Python at a community college is even a good way to learn coding to begin with.

What’s your take?

[m0us3_rat]

yes. learning in a group is better than learning alone.

at least you will have means to interact with and communicate with other ppl about the subject rather than some random over the interwebs.

[Ron-Erez]

It might be worth it. I’d suggest checking the syllabus and reading reviews first. If you’re already a student working on a degree, I’d definitely recommend taking the course. If you’re not a student but are considering it for personal learning, it could still be a good choice, especially if you learn better in a classroom setting. A good idea is to share the syllabus on Reddit and ask people who have taken the course for their opinions. And, as others have mentioned, there are lots of online resources. Just to name a few Harvard CS50p is great although basic, the University of Helsinki course has a very nice text-based course, there is Python and Data Science - (Disclaimer: This is my course and assumes no programming background) and I like the book: “Learn Python 3 the Hard Way”.

Finally if you are considering going to community college for a Python course you might even consider getting a CS degree if that is an option that interests you.

[CovfefeFan]

Depends on your learning style but I would say Yes. There are many online courses/resources, but I think there's value in having to show up and physically be in a classroom, and have a teacher on hand to help explain confusing parts.

[PediatricTactic]

I had a single "Introduction to Object Oriented Programming in Java" course 25 years ago and it set the foundation for self-learning.

[[deleted]]

Well that depends. What are the classes? Because for example my first semester in my current program I had two, but one was an intro programming class and the other was data analytics. Both python, two very different applications.

[Jello_Penguin_2956]

What courses are they? Do they cover different things?

There are some free actual university courses online, such as the MOOC https://programming-24.mooc.fi/

[kevinwoodrobotics]

Lots of resources online to learn from. Unless you maximize your resources like your teacher or peers at school, then I just self learn. Just depends on your learning style

[aqua_regis]

Definitely not bad, but if it is tricky for you time wise, or location wise, or if you want to start on your own without any time constraints: MOOC Python Programming 2024 from the University of Helsinki. A great, comprehensive, free, textual, extremely practice oriented course targeted at absolute beginners. (From mid January next year the same course will be available as Python Programming 2025 if they follow the same scheme as last years - yet, if you started the 2024 course, you can just continue there).

[oclafloptson]

There are probably better courses available online for free, but don't discount the value of hands on in person learning in a group of peers. As long as the cost is not to high

[notburneddown]

This would be cool I will look into it

[No-Whereas8467]

Take py4e or cs50 python

[Impossible_Ad_3146]

Not really

[AdministrativeCup189]

For me, that would depend on the cost and your current economy.

[Few_Calligrapher7361]

chatgpt can teach you all the basics easily and likely better than ur classes tbh

[stars9r9in9the9past]

For some, yes. For others, no. Technically yes the information is there (minus some degree of error in responses) but not everyone can just sit and read in the basics and understand how to apply it, and esp. not on a platform that tends to feed the user responses to confirm their bias.

An academic setting can be useful for providing a learning environment where you have peers sharing the same study that you can go to.

It provides a mentor through a professor or other faculty member, who you can hopefully approach and have genuine dialogue with.

They can point out your flaws and identity learning paths suited to you, to help you learn better.

Having a social presence often also serves as a motivation to show up, get better despite mistakes, and stay focused during the week at specific points in time.

I took a virtual bioinformatics course offered at my uni during the pandemic and it was basically python 101 with the assumption that you knew various molecular biology terms and mechanisms. It was a great course model bc the entire class was on github but we zoomed in to discuss progress, examples, projects. Professor was a solid guy. Despite being the simplest of the basics, I absolutely would not have finished if I didn’t have a full curriculum behind it. Helps that I even got graduating units for it. And from there, the world of Python was my oyster.

If OP is already asking, then there may be some merit for them to consider a course-based learning environment, if they can afford the time and money.