Computer science coding courses

I'm going into year 13 and thinking of applying for computer science. I don't take computer science A level so i want to do an online coding course to know the basics. Does anyone know which ones I should do and which ones would give me sufficient knowledge before applying. Please give recommendations below all help is appreciated! :smile:

Reply 1

hotpud

Original post by dilsheen

Have you done a basic Google? Software engineering is about problem solving. This is the first problem you have encountered. Can you acquire the knowledge to figure out what your next step should be?

Reply 2

De Montfort University

Official Rep

Hi there,

That's so great that you are interested in coding! I am a Cyber Security student at DMU with a strong interest in programming. I will try to give you some suggestions where you can start :smile:

Firstly, I will briefly tell you how I got introduced to coding myself. I started with Pascal at school, but in your case, I think it might be python. Python is a nice language to understand basic concepts of programming, such as algorithms and data structures. You can start from reading following https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_intro.asp. Also, you can watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqtD5dpn9C8.

After you understand basic concepts I mentioned above, you can proceed in diving deeper into aspects of programming. I would suggest getting a basic understanding of what computer science is as a whole. You can watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOjov-2OZ0E. because you would already have some experience with python, you would be able to relate the concepts discussed to your experience and have better understanding.

After that I would suggest going to Coursera, Udemy or LinkedIn learning and taking one of the programming courses with the best reviews (preferably with a big discount) and proceed from there. They all usually have the same contents - so it doesn't really matter how it goes.

Let me know if that was helpful,

Ilya :smile:

Reply 3

dilsheen

Original post by De Montfort University

Hi there,
That's so great that you are interested in coding! I am a Cyber Security student at DMU with a strong interest in programming. I will try to give you some suggestions where you can start :smile:

Firstly, I will briefly tell you how I got introduced to coding myself. I started with Pascal at school, but in your case, I think it might be python. Python is a nice language to understand basic concepts of programming, such as algorithms and data structures. You can start from reading following https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_intro.asp. Also, you can watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqtD5dpn9C8.
After you understand basic concepts I mentioned above, you can proceed in diving deeper into aspects of programming. I would suggest getting a basic understanding of what computer science is as a whole. You can watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOjov-2OZ0E. because you would already have some experience with python, you would be able to relate the concepts discussed to your experience and have better understanding.
After that I would suggest going to Coursera, Udemy or LinkedIn learning and taking one of the programming courses with the best reviews (preferably with a big discount) and proceed from there. They all usually have the same contents - so it doesn't really matter how it goes.
Let me know if that was helpful,
Ilya :smile:

thank you so much, this is very helpful

Reply 4

De Montfort University

Official Rep

Original post by dilsheen

thank you so much, this is very helpful

Hi there,

I just wanted to check on you! Have you taken a look into any of the resources I sent you? How did you find it? :smile:

Maybe you need some more support?

Ilya

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 5

dilsheen

Original post by De Montfort University

Hi there,
I just wanted to check on you! Have you taken a look into any of the resources I sent you? How did you find it? :smile:

Maybe you need some more support?
Ilya

Hey! since this post, I actually decided on doing chem engineering as the course i wanted to apply for. However, your reply was still helpful as i started learning basic python and included this in my personal statement!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 6

AhsokaTano-

Original post by dilsheen

I did Girls Who Code course, but ig that's more for those who understand (and, girls/non-binary)
edit: also check coursera/edX websites (you dont need to pay for some)