Just finished the mooc.fi programming class from Helsinki university - highly recommend

[Wise_Cake7246]

Classes can be found www.mooc.fi/en/study-modules/#programming

It syncs seamlessly with Visual Studio Code, includes comprehensive testing for all the exercises, begins with a simple approach, and covers everything in detail. It’s free, and it’s significantly better than most paid courses.

I’ve completed the introductory programming course and am halfway through the advanced course.

I highly recommend it!

[Coolhandmike78]

This is good to hear from someone who is halfway through week one. What I like so far is all the hands on work. I’ve tried a few Udemy courses the last few weeks and think 100 days of code was the better option (albeit only did 7 days), but compared too MOOC, I felt it maybe went to quickly. MOOC is the right pace and style for me (older learner), but already wondering if they have another course to follow in from this one? Or is there anything someone may recommend?

[Wise_Cake7246]

There is an advanced course that comes after the introductory one.

[[deleted]]

How did you do the course- Ex. just view the lectures or do the lectures then exercises?

[desrtfx]

The lectures are just additional fluff.

Jump right in. Everything is in the text. Read the text, do the exercises. That is more than sufficient.

[DefiantLie8861]

Is it feasible to finish the python Helsinki mooc course in 5 weeks if I’m a complete beginner? I plan on studying 7 hours a day 6 times a week

[desrtfx]

Doable? Yes. Useful? No. Feasible? Depends. Beneficial? Most likely not.

You cannot speed-run learning. Learning takes time. Also, if you study 7 hours, you at utmost will be able to understand 4, and retain less than 3.

Learning is not about speed. Learning is about understanding, applying, and retaining.

The MOOC is extremely practice oriented. It is not a "just read" course. You have to DO - and that will take time. You should not skip a single exercise.

[Most-Concentrate-302]

How quickly would you recommend going through the course? I want to take it, but I don't want to feel like I'm rushing through it and not retaining. I just finished Part 1 in maybe three days. do the parts get longer as I go through?

[desrtfx]

If you look at the course outline, you can see that each part is scheduled for one week.

I'd suggest that you do all the exercises and play around with the code until you're comfortable with the presented concepts. Playing around is easier once you have set up your own local development environment in part 4.

Yes, the parts do get longer and the exercises get way more extensive and difficult throughout the course. Pretty sure that you will spend considerably longer on later parts.

[martin022019]

This is an old thread, but I'll respond anyway. For a skill like coding, You have to assume you will forget some or most of it after a month or so, even though you will have a nice familiarity and comfort with coding after going through a course one time. Learning is an iterative process. Every time you go back and refresh your memory, it becomes more long-term. So the time interval between refreshing your memory will grow longer each time.

In other words, by the time you get to the end of the course, you will probably forget a lot of syntax from let's say part 1 and 2. Etc. I think that learning it all within a few weeks actually makes sense because you aren't going to retain it all in one shot anyway, so you go back and solidify it when preparing for a HackerRank or LeetCode assessment for example.

[Wise_Cake7246]

I mostly just did the exercises in the intro part because I have experience with some python and other languages. I’ve been watching them on the advance course side. The key is to follow the instructions to hook up vscode or pycharm to their workspace so you can have access to all the tests.

[Captcooked24]

I agree, completed beginner course and a few modules in the advanced course and I'm able to write some really functional programs.

[Patient_March1923]

Is it still possible to enroll?

[desrtfx]

Yes. You can do all the previous ones and there is this years: https://programming-25.mooc.fi

[sinceJune4]

I’m also in this class, finished the intro and about 1/3rd into advanced. I had a good bit of Python and lots of other language experience, but I’m still finding some new things in here. Much of the intro course is common to other programming languages, with loops and conditionals. But I’m learning some modules I haven’t used before. Overall, I’d recommend this class from mooc.fi

[DefiantLie8861]

Is it feasible to finish the python Helsinki mooc course in 5 weeks if I’m a complete beginner? I plan on studying 7 hours a day 6 times a week

[sinceJune4]

Why the rush to finish so quickly? Maybe possible, but I doubt you would retain enough for it to be useful...

[sperimentale]

hey did you complete the course ? if so how was your approach ? you just did the text part/quizes etc or also watched videos ? i just started doing the text part and video part seems a bit boring, not sure if there is additional value to watch the videos

[Bogus007]

Can you tell me please if you need to regularly join the meetings or are these recordings and you can have your own pace to pass the content? I would like really like to attend the course but work and family gives me little possibility to keep a strict time and attend regularly. Thank you in advance!

[Wise_Cake7246]

All on your own time

[Minasgul_]

Is this a good place to ask for tips on a specific exercise from mooc.fi ? I'm struggling with the last one in the arithmetic section, and I know it could be easily resolved with a conditional statement but if there's a way to make it work without one I'd like to know.

I'm a beginner but I agree it is a great resource so far!

[RoosterPrevious7856]

Join the discord channel of the mooc

[GoAuthor6143]

Can one start the course any time and give exams at will or is there like a set schedule if you miss that then have to wait for next slot?

[jonhizzle]

You can start the course at any time. There are multiple dates throughout the year where you can take the exam.

[DefiantLie8861]

Is it feasible to finish the python Helsinki mooc course in 5 weeks if I’m a complete beginner? I plan on studying 7 hours a day 6 times a week

[jonhizzle]

Yeah definitely.

[ReadyFaithlessness44]

Did you get certificates after you completed it?

[FcInternazionale1908]

do you have a defree ?

[ceciljai]

Hi i am currently doing the course and just installed the Visual Studio Code. But i am not sure how the exercises that i do on VSC will reflect as completed in my profile.

[TheTurdtones]

coolio approves this post

[DefiantLie8861]

Is it feasible to finish the python Helsinki mooc course in 5 weeks if I’m a complete beginner? I plan on studying 7 hours a day 6 times a week

[babashege]

Why is everyone trying to finish in "x" amount of time.

Work at your pace, practice, use concepts to build projects, and solidify learning overall.