Coursera's Python 3 Programming Specialization Review

Hello guys, Many blog posts and youtube videos tell you the best programming languages to learn this year or in the next five years, but in my opinion, that’s wrong because there are no best languages to learn. You should first think of what you are planning to be in the future. If you plan to be a front-end web developer, you should probably learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you plan to be an android app developer, you might choose java or kotlin, or even flutter. Some languages can be used in many fields, and one of the most used is called python and is used in data science, machine learning, deep learning, web development, data analysts, and more. 

This language is open-source and rich in libraries that can extend its functionalities, and many IT specialists recommend starting with this language to understand how programming work but not a mandatory thing to start with.

So if you want to be an AI engineer or a data scientist, you may consider learning python since this is the best language in this domain. I will recommend one of the reputable courses created by Michigan university called Python 3 Programming Specialization offered in Coursera.

Is Python 3 Programming Specialization by Michigan University on Coursera worth it?

Now, is the time to find out what are you going to learn exactly in this program and whether its worth your time and money or not. We will find that by checking out who is your instruct, his experience and teaching style as well as what is covered in this course and how well and in-depth.

1. The Instructors Review

Michigan University offers this course, and all of the four instructors have greater experience in the field of programming. Many of them are assistant professors like Christopher Brooks and Steve Oney, so that you can learn too much about python from industry experts.

2. Course Content

Now that you know who has created this course its time to see what is covered in this Python 3 specialization on Coursera.

2.1. Python Basics

The first section of the specialization will teach you the basics of this easy language. You will understand the variables and values and how to store variables and statements & expressions. Next, you will learn how to store multiple values inside one variable and access those variables, learn how to use the loop, and draw basic shapes. 

Later, you will understand the boolean expression and logical operators and how to use accumulation patterns.

2.2. Python Functions, Files, and Dictionaries

You will learn how to use python language to work with files such as .CSV files and how to read them. Next, you will learn another data type known as dictionaries and the special way of how it stores the variables as a key:pair values and practice using them in an accumulation pattern. 

Later, you will start creating your own functions and use them inside your program so you don’t need to write the same code every time and draw images using the turtle module. Finally, learn how to sort  dictionaries at the end of this course.

2.3. Data Collection and Processing with Python

You will deep dive into complex data structures such as nested data and nested lists, dictionaries, and processing JSON results. Next, you wl learn the map function, which takes all the object in the list and applies a function to that list and use the filter function that takes all of the objects of the list and runs them through a function. 

Later you will learn how to use list comprehension, a smart way to create a new list based on the existing list. Finally, learn how to use the API to access the data from the web.

2.4. Python Classes and Inheritance

You will learn the concept of object-oriented programming (OOP) that enables you to make a piece of code reusable and easy to understand for other developers. You will learn how to use the classes that are a part of the OOP and are considered a blueprint of your code. 

If your python code has many classes that share some of the attributes, you can inherit from one of the classes known as the parent class. You will learn that concept and use the Django framework to build the web with the classes and inheritance.

2.5. Python Project: pillow, tesseract, and OpenCV

This final course in the specialization will teach you how to use three of the available python libraries to work with images, starting with the pillow library that can load images and make small changes. Next, you will use the tesseract library to recognize text inside images. The open-source library OpenCV is complex and has many algorithms to make more complex changes and analyses on images and videos.

Conclusion

Python is an easy-to-learn and use programming language and has become more popular since it supports many industries, from creating intelligent software to building the web and analyzing your data, so learning this language can be very useful and attract employers.