End of Algorithms 2

After falling a bit behind schedule, I am almost finished with Algorithms II from Coursera. I have finished all of the prgramming assignments and all of the lectures. All that remain is the final round of exercises.

Like many worthwhile pursuits, I am glad that I went through the classes (both Algorithms I and II), and also happy that it is over.

There were a lot of things I think I gained from the experience. It gave me a good survey of lots of data structures and algorithms. I wanted to fill-in holes in my knowledge of algorithms, and I think that these courses have done just that. For all of the more advanced subjects, I need to take deeper dives, but I am happy that I have a good breadth of knowledge at least.

Additionally, since Algorithms is taught with Java examples, I got to work with a foreign language and its specific coding style and tool-set. While frustrating at times, it's fun to try new things.

And opposite the 'new', the lecturer shared many interesting historical anecdotes throughout the course. I'm not really big on history, but I think these little tidbits made the material a bit more colorful, which also makes it easier to recall things.

A bit of advice

Now that I am about to finish my second massive online course, I wanted to offer you (and future me) some advice about taking online courses:

• If you start it, finish it. If you say to yourself, "I'll see how it goes", you will undoubtably quit.
• Do everything. Watch the lectures, do the exercises, do the projects, participate in forums.
• Set a time(s) in your day/week to do the work. Schedule it like an appointment that you can't miss.
• Keep up with the new material and the deadlines (even if they're not really enforced).

What I am saying is, be hard on yourself. Don't let yourself have an excuse for not finishing the course. It's so easy to start and quit.

What's next?

I don't have any plans to take any other Coursera courses in the immediate future. I'll check in again later, but I don't see anything that I'd really want to invest time into for now. So, I don't expect to commit anything else this year.

Luckily, I have a nice backlog of study items that I want to work on. More on that later ...