Python & SoftwareEng: Professional Programming for Beginners

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Steve Jobs, the man who brought us the iPhone said:

"I think every body in this country should learn how to program a computer.. should learn a computer language... because it teaches you how to think."

"I view computer science as a liberal art. It should be something that everybody learns... takes a year in their lives.. one of the courses they take is .. learning how to program."   [ -- Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview, 1995]

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This course teaches you how to think, about computer programs; it doesn't just teach you a programming language.

Along the way, want to learn programming? Eager to become a software engineer? How about learning the basics of the world's hottest programming language Python, wildly popular software engineering tools, and excellent programming methodology?

This hands-on, continuously evolving course that will grow to have 20+ hours of screen-cast programming-session recordings will teach you -- a novice -- how to create useful computer programs that people can use, and how to continually upgrade your programs with new features based on user requirements. In fact, you will build and evolve your own program, "myPlanner", during the course, alongside evolving your programming skills. Read the storyline of the program's evolution in the resources section of the very first lecture or the "Future Lectures!" section, both of which are available for free preview.

The Python programming language is ranked as the hottest programming language on the planet right now. (Search the internet for "Python popularity" and see for yourself!) Python is also a popular platform for the wildly in-demand programming job of data scientist. This course teaches Python and how to use it in a professional manner. 

Software engineering tools such as Integrated Development Environments and Version Control Systems, program development methodologies such as Agile, and programming skills  such as requirement specification, top-down design, object-oriented design, and software testing are essential requirements for a software engineer. This course teaches the basics of all these tools, methodologies, and skills.

The attraction of this  course is that it is designed to help you learn the basics of all the above in a natural and easy manner by taking you on a guided tour of evolving your own computer program. At each stage of your program's evolution you will learn the necessary tools, processes, and methodologies just exactly when you need them, thus building in your mind a nice, complete and memorable storyline of all the things you learn.

This holistic course is a combination of two courses that are often taught separately: a programming language course and a software engineering course. Each video lecture is a programming session captured on screen rather than a talking head and power-point slides, and downloadable for every lecture is the fully working program developed in that lecture!

Here are some of the highly marketable skills you will acquire from  this course:

• Python programming language

• Agile Methodolgy

• Requirements specification

• Top-down Program design

• Flowcharts

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

• Software Testing

• PyCharm IDE (Integrated Development Environment) 

• GIT Version Control System

• User Interface (UI) design

• etc., etc., etc.

So, hop on board, join the class and become a software engineer!

Target Audience: 

• You want to become a professional programmer but have  no prior programming background
  

• You want to learn the Python programming language and the basics of software engineering

• You want to re-learn programming in a better way

Skills Needed: 

• You already have or are willing to develop the habits of precise, logical, and systematic thinking and expression, being organized in your work, and persistence and patience. This course will not only make you a very good beginning programmer, but also perhaps make your approach to all other work as well more methodical.

Course Mechanics: 

In the very first lecture you will build your very first program, and with each subsequent lecture you will grow your program organically into something bigger, along the way learning all the different tools, methods, processes and methodologies required. 

Thus, you will pickup the basics of all the different skills needed towards becoming a professional programmer, not just a particular programming language. Just as becoming a good writer involves much more than learning English grammar and vocabulary, becoming a good programmer involves much more than just learning a programming language. This course will start you on the path to becoming a good programmer. 

As you progress in the course, not only will you have your own working Planner program that you can show off to your friends, but also you will grow a beginner programmer skill set of the most in-demand things in the software industry.

Additional Course Lectures: 

This course provides you a unique opportunity to shape the lectures to your benefit. The course has been seeded with an initial 20 lectures, and at least as many more lectures are in preparation and will be added to the course in the near future. These latter lectures will take into account all student feedback on the initial seed lectures. Such development of any product, based on user feedback and involving many releases/upgrades, is referred to as Agile Product Development, a methodology that is taught in this course. Your feedback will shape not only what is taught next but also how it is taught. The earlier you join the course and the more feedback you give, the more you can shape this course to your liking!

Course Outcomes: 

Computer programming is not just about learning a programming language. In this course you will learn in an easy, enjoyable, and motivating manner how to develop working software programs, that is, the basics of Software Engineering. You will be learning the Python programming language along the way.