Please note on December 31, 2019, this program will be retiring and no longer available on edX. If you are interested in earning the Professional Certificate you must be complete the program by December 31, 2019 in order to earn the certificate.

The courses in this Professional Certificate program introduce you to the “science” of computer science. In biology, DNA forms the basic building blocks of life. DNA strands can be replicated and built upon each other to form complex objects called proteins that can make all sorts of interesting creatures from bacteria to elephants. Similarly, software code can be built in such a way so that it can be reused and paired with other software to create complex software systems.

In this Professional Certificate program you will have the opportunity to explore the nuts and bolts of reusable code objects (called “object-oriented” programming). You’ll get exposed to professional software tools and learn how to compile software programs (and why that’s important). You’ll also learn about basic algorithms that programmers use to create everything from simple automation programs to complex systems that run factories. A program like this wouldn’t be complete without learning how to quickly manipulate data using software so you’ll learn about hash tables, stacks, and trees as efficient and speedy ways to manage information.

Each course in this program will keep you challenged with exercises, practice quizzes, and exams that will not only test your learning but help you evaluate how well you’re learning. Your instructors both have written code for large software applications and have spent many hours in front of students in a classroom teaching these concepts. They’ve applied their time (and student) tested materials to develop these courses.