Computer Science
Programming with a Purpose

Introductory books on Machine Learning

Hi guys, I'm not really sure whether this is the correct subreddit to ask this on but here it goes. Finance guy, going back to school to do CS. I am currently going through Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach + the accompanying Coursera material and I find it wonderful and engaging. I am interested in Java, algorithm analysis and potentially ML.

Now, as part of my university applications here in EU for CS, I will most likely have to write a statement of intent and I would get familiar with ML on a very basic level to mention it. Can you suggest any introductory texts similar in quality to the Sedgewick stuff that give the basics for future CS students? Thanks.

Estou gostando muito de fazer esse curso no Coursera: Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose. É um curso de programação em Java mesclado com introdução à ciência da computação.

Harvard CS50 também é muito bom, ministrado em C.

Thanks. I'm currently using this course on coursera so it'll be interesting to compare the two

Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose

- Java beginner course (for free)

- coursera course created by Princeton University

- if you've just studied math recently you will do fine

- if you'd studied math long time before but you were good at it, it is doable, might be challenging a bit (as for me)

- if you haven't studied math recently and if you were not good at math, it is doable, but you will need to put lot of time and energy into it. But hey, it is for free, try it, you'll see it

- pretty serious Java beginner course

- in order to not miss out a lot make sure you go to the Reading sections each week, there are online materials with bunch of explanations, solved not solved exercises. It helped me a lot to understand how the loops work

- there is a high emphasis on probability calculation (the function Math. random() is used a lot)

Again, I don't think any prep is necessary, but Iany experience helps! Definitely look at courses your HS offers, but if you really really wanted to get ahead, the Princeton professors who teach COS 126 offer it for free online, starting today

I bought Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Robert Sedgewick and I’m really enjoying it so far.

It has a lot of programming challenges, covers object oriented programming, some algorithms and data structures, some computer architecture, and it even gets into the theory of computation.

There is a free companion coursera MOOC that covers the entire book, but it’s worth getting the book for more practice.

I got the book because I wanted to improve my programming skills after getting my ass kicked by an algorithms coursera course

I'm not the person you asked, but I am a software engineer/former CS student with an art hobby haha. I haven't personally taken it since I went to a regular university, but sites like Coursera have intro programming classes from various good universities available online for free. Something like this from Princeton: https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

It's complete with assignments, lectures, etc.

There are lots of other sites out there not just that one if the lectures don't jive with your learning style though! But you should be able to get all the basic programming 101/102 material for free very easily to see if it's something you want to explore further. I would even venture to say it's probably the easiest STEM major to find information online for, since the internet was built by & for CS folks.

The books seem good, what's the problem?

The interdisciplinary approach one is by Sedgewick and Wayne, two very well regarded Princeton professors and authors.

They have a video course on Coursera that goes with the book for you to use alongside it: https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

Statistics and coding will go a long way if you pursue a research degree, but you don't necessarily need to take a formal course for them. Coding is fun, and you can find a lot of resources online to help you learn. There is an excellent course on Coursera on intro programming if you are interested. It's from Princeton University, and it's free!!! Note that the language they are using Java. R might be a more beneficial language to learn for research in psychology, but basic programming knowledge is always beneficial. I am also aware that there are some R coding courses on Lynda/LinkedInLearning.

The best way to learn programming is a structured course with a very large hands-on component.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

This is one of the best introductions to programming on the internet imo. Don't get put off by the fact that they teach java because they don't go into any exotic java only features.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-algorithms-theory-machines

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part2

Princeton university. All free, no certificate.

HERE!

Algorithms Part 1

Algorithms Part 2

If you want to have the most solid base I know when it comes to programming you don't want to miss out on Dr. Robert Sedgewick. For real this guy wrote the book on Algorithms and was the guy that made self balancing Red - Black Trees along with Leonidas J. Guibas. He is the guy you want to learn this from for real.

Java is an excellent choice of language to learn if making an Android app is your eventual goal. While Kotlin is also available, your desire of wanting to learn a language in the context of physics simulation makes you a perfect audience for a highly recommended book called Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach by Robert Sedgewick. This book is excellent because of the interesting problems and wide breadth of science and math topics that it touches upon while teaching the Java language.

The upside to going through this book is you will have an excellent foundation of Java and computer science, fully prepared to learn Android programming. The downside is that this will take longer than a tutorial approach, and the book costs money. Here is a sample chapter 2 in PDF format.

Please note that Robert Sedgewick has another book called Introduction to Programming in Java. The difference between this book and the Computer Science book is that the Computer Science book has the entire contents of the Intro Java book, but also has three additional chapters on computing theory, computing machines, and processor design. Since the two books cost about the same price, you might as well get the larger Computer Science book with additional content.

If you prefer video lectures or an online course, they are available for this textbook:

Video lectures

Coursera's Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose

Coursera's Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines - This course covers the second half of the Computer Science book.

It depends on your personality. When I went on this learning journey I didn't like the odin project, because it had no videos, no interactivity and made me feel like I'm alone in all this, but most importantly I needed something, a stick, to keep me going, and in my case those were certificates.

They've been completely worthless in terms of getting a job, I did that with my knowledge and projects, but they served as capstones which gave me a sense of accomplishment without which I would have definitely not been where I am now. They kept me going, I still have a collection of them in a folder, and even printed some of the ones I'm more proud of, but yeah, my employer didn't ask me about them. Shame, haha.

Between those 2 choices, I prefer neither. I recommend at least 2 computer science classes/courses before getting into web development.

Examples:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/computational-thinking-problem-solving

https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-cs50x

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/python

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-algorithms-theory-machines

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part2

The reason why I recommend learning to code before web development, is because once you start your web dev journey and eventually get to JavaScript, you will hit a rock solid wall that will be highly discouraging. Been there.

Once you've finished something like CS50, your web development journey will be a breeze.

You may want to consider taking classes on edX or coursera over that site. I haven't heard of it before, it might be excellent, but regardless of the quality it won't be recognized by companies the same way as an actual university will be. https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/java-object-oriented#courses

Look around coursera and edx to pick some courses that you can study at your own pace.

Something like this for beginners

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java?languages=en#syllabus

and this

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1

Aprendes Java y con este curso:

https://java-programming.mooc.fi/

Este curso te enseña casi todo JAVA (lo más importante + fundamentos) y paso a paso como vos queres.

Una vez que lo terminas, haces este:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

Y una vez que termines ese, haces estos dos:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1

https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part2

​

Listo, ahora ya estas preparado para aprender lo que sea y dedicarte a full a la rama que te guste.

Have you looked at the following online courses in Coursera?

• https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-algorithms-theory-machines
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part2

If you decide to try out that route, I'd also pick up the course/author's texts, Sedgewick & Wayne, Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach and Sedgewick & Wayne, Algorithms, 4th edition, as their texts covers more than what is in their Coursera courses and they have many more problems/programs to learn from and write as practice/exercises. I find their texts to be quite readable/accessible, and a good gateway to go into more advanced algorithms material.