Object Oriented Programming in Java on Coursera by UC San Diego
This course provides a great reinforcement on OOP in Java, for those who already have a solid background in general programming concepts as well as Java. I particularly found the material in Week 3 on Inheritance to be helpful, which solidified Java’s inheritance syntax for me. Although the course didn’t really go into extensive depth on any of the material, and was certainly a far cry from a similar course that I took in college called Object-Oriented Analysis & Design (CSCI 4448 at CU Boulder), for me it was a great refresher. I’d consider it a great intermediate-level course for beginner programmers looking to advance to the next level. The faculty teaching the course was excellent overall and presented very well on camera with an accessible and friendly demeanor, and it was clear that each of the three instructors really knew their material. In fact, the faculty was so knowledgeable and visibly passionate about education that I honestly wouldn’t be surprised by the quality of the computer science students at UCSD being taught by them on campus. The only con to the course is that some might not find it as professional as other online courses, even compared to others on Coursera. The actual computer science students at UCSD were often featured in some of the course videos, which threw off the tone of the course and made it feel very much like an online course for a typical college-aged audience (18-26) and less like a course for older adults. So older adults should simply be aware of this and adjust expectations accordingly.
Conclusion: Recommended for beginner-level programmers who haven’t yet grasped OOP concepts & techniques as specifically applied to Java.
Rating: 4 out of 5 (-1 star for the very collegiate feel to some of the videos in the course)
