In this Best Courses Guide (BCG), I have curated the top free online courses for learning programming. These courses are from prestigious universities like Michigan, Georgia Tech, Princeton, Rice, UC Davis, and more.
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Here are our top picks
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What is Programming?
Programming is the art of instructing a computer on how to perform tasks. It involves writing precise instructions for the computer to execute. While computers only understand binary code (0s and 1s), programmers use human-readable languages to communicate with them and achieve various tasks in fields like web development, software engineering, and game development.
With the increasing demand for software developers, programming offers lucrative career opportunities. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 25% growth in software development employment by 2030, with the average national salary for a programmer in the US being $91K.
Why You Should Trust Us
Class Central, known as the TripAdvisor for online education, has assisted 60 million learners in discovering their next course. We have compiled a comprehensive catalog of 200,000 online courses and 200,000 user reviews over more than a decade. As online learners ourselves, the Class Central team has collectively completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.
Courses Overview
- Total course enrollment exceeds 5.3 million enrollments, with the largest course having over 3 million enrollments
- All courses are free or free-to-audit
- All courses are beginner-friendly, except for Programming Languages, Part A
- Coursera is the most popular provider in this BCG
- Approximately 431K individuals are following Programming Courses on Class Central
My first recommendation for beginners is “Programming for Everybody” offered by the University of Michigan on Coursera. This course, with over 3 million enrollments, introduces you to the Python programming language, known for its simplicity and versatility. Python is widely used across various domains from web development to machine learning.
The course is designed for absolute beginners and covers the foundational principles of programming, which are transferable to other languages. No prior knowledge is required, except basic arithmetic.
Key Learnings:
- Fundamental computing concepts and program execution
- Installation of Python and code editor (Atom recommended)
- Basic Python syntax and program control structures
- Functions, variables, and user input processing
- Core programming skills: language proficiency and logical reasoning
