Programming Courses

Information about the programming courses we offer and whether you should take one

All students admitted onto our MSc degrees should already have a basic level of programming competence. This should be sufficient for you to find a set of courses that are suitable for you. However, some students wish to improve their programming skills during the degree, and this can be an especially good idea for students with less than 2 semesters of programming experience, or those who have never written a large application or optimised code. The following courses are available:

Programming Skills EPCC11017 

This course is offered by EPCC, the university's centre for high-performance computing. The course is designed to help you to produce higher quality code: code that is readable, maintainable, usable, correct and efficient in less time and with less effort. These programming skills are applicable to programs in any language and the course is illustrated with examples and practicals from multiple languages including C, Python, and Java. Please note this is not a 'Programming 101' course. It is designed for those with experience of programming to hone and improve their practice.Note that this course has a quota, so if you want to register, you should do so as early as possible. It runs once in Semester 1 (Central Campus) and once in Semester 2 (Kings Buildings Campus). Informatics students may prefer to enrol on the Semester 1 instance.

Computer Programming for Speech and Language Processing LASC11096  

This course teaches Python and is designed for students on the Speech and Language Processing degree in the School of Psychology, Philosophy, and Language Sciences. As such, it does not assume previous programming experience, so it starts from scratch (unlike the course above). It is also targeted specifically at speech and language applications, so it is recommended mainly for students focusing on NLP courses as part of the AI, Informatics, or Cognitive Science degrees.

Note that this course has a quota, and PPLS students will be given priority, so if you want to register, you should do so as early as possible.

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