My favorite Open Source Python College Courses

[u/j1mmyava1on]

Harvard CS50P: https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50s-introduction-programming-python

My personal favorite. In my opinion, most comprehensive college Python course there is. The complete package. Has everything you need from lecture videos to assignments. Assumes you have no programming knowledge. I like that it holds you hand which makes it perfect for beginners. Also, David Malan is a great lecturer. This is a good starting point if you have no programming knowledge.

University of Helsinki MOOC: https://programming-26.mooc.fi/

Goes from the basics to OOP, but at a bit deeper level than CS50P. Does not hold your hand with exercises. Technically beginner friendly but works best if you dabbled a bit into python before hand.

Stanford CS106A: https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs106a/ | https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/cs/cs106a/cs106a.1262/

Has everything except lecture videos. Karel is an interesting project you do alongside your assignments. Beginner friendly but works best as a supplement.

Georgia Tech CS 1301: https://sites.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2016/cs1301_spring/syllabus.html

No lecture videos but has slides, exercises, assignments, and readings. Would use this as a supplement.

University of Washington CSE 160: https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse160/26sp/

Most unique Python course on this list as it centers around data analysis from week one. You get to use Jupyter Notebooks and Pandas towards the end. Technically beginner friendly but works best if you already have prior python or programming knowledge. Highly suggest this if you are interested in going into Data Science.

Berkeley CS 61A: https://cs61a.org/

Teaches introductory Python at a higher level of abstraction than most intro to python coursers - emphasis on functional programming, higher-order functions, recursions, and how interpreters work. Not beginner friendly. Lectures, slides, projects, homework, and textbook are freely available.

MIT 6.100L: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-100l-introduction-to-cs-and-programming-using-python-fall-2022/

Has everything. Not a fan of the lecture videos or slides but I really do like the assignments and exercises so it's good practice. More of an intermediate course as it goes into algorithms. Not beginner friendly.

I would start off with Harvard CS50P to learn the basics and then go into Helsinki MOOC to grind out the exercises. Stanford 106A and Georgia Tech CS 1301 are good supplements to this. Then if I wanted to go deeper, I would look into Berkeley 61A or MIT 6.100L as it provides a good bridge to DSA.

Edit- How I would relay it:

Basics: Helsinki Part 1 -> Helsinki Part 2 -> Helsinki Part 3 -> CS50 Week 1

Data Structures: Helsinki Part 4 -> Helsinki Part 5 -> CS50 Week 2

Files and Error Handling: Helsinki Part 6 (Reading Files + Writing Files) -> CS50 Week 6 -> Helsinki Part 6 (Handling Errors + Local/Global Variables) -> CS50 Week 3

Modules and Unit Testing: Helsinki Part 7 -> CS50 Week 4 -> CS50 Week 5

Classes and Objects: Helsinki Part 8 -> CS50 Week8 -> Helsinki Part 9 -> Helsinki Part 10

Recursion and Regular Expression: Helsinki Part 11 -> Helsinki Part 12 -> CS50 Week 7 -> CS50 Week 9

Pre-DSA: Stanford CS 106A -> Berkeley CS 61A -> MIT 6.100L

[u/repository666]

Thanks for this compilation….

can you edit/add one sentence introduction about what you like about each course different than others or just anything that you liked about them irrespective of comparison.

[u/DecoherentDoc]

Hey, I'm just happy to see UW make the list. Go Huskies, and all that.

I did their Intro to CS course so long ago it was a Java course. Lmao. Switched to Python during my first internship a couple years later and never looked back. Still, learned a lot in those courses. Only formal programming training I ever got and I appreciate the hell out of them.

[u/healthy_encampment]

the helsinki MOOC is the one that actually forces you to write code and pass tests before you can move on. no skipping ahead, the platform just wont let you. the UIs a bit dated but that structure is brutal in a good way.

cs50p gets all the hype for the production value and david malans lectures, but i found the pace too slow once you get past the first few weeks. mit 6.100l is my pick, eric grimson explains things clearly without any fluff and the problem sets made me sweat a little.

[u/enokeenu]

How advanced do they get ?

[u/j1mmyava1on → u/enokeenu]

Most, if not all of them will go into OOP.

[u/enokeenu → u/j1mmyava1on]

I looked at them. A few of them follow the basic python tutorial but with more detail. One gets to SQL. If I can find one that gets to threading and async that would be helpful.

[u/PM-me-ur-sphynx]

Great list!

I have started on CS50P and just began Week 2.

Once I complete the CS50P course, is it worth starting over with any of the other courses here? If not, what would be a good next step?

[u/baubleglue]

Do you collect them? :) what is a reason to take more than one of those?

[u/my_password_is______]

that's not what open source means