Udemy Software Engineering Course Review

What exactly is Udemy? Well, in short its a learning service which allows you to take advantage of all there is to learn in our great big  world without ever leaving your home. Be it help with Microsoft Virtual Academy or some education in finances, Udemy is here. They offer plenty of help to young teachers and aspiring real estate developers alike. With over 12,000,000 students and 40,000 courses there is plenty to learn and plenty of people to learn with. There is at least a handful of courses that anyone you know could benefit from.

In the Udemy Software Engineering Course things are divided into top free courses, top paid courses, and a top student pick which appears at the top of the page. The top student pick is an Introduction to Data Structures & Algorithms in Java, instructed by Raghavendra Dixit. Raghavendra has 16 years of programming experience, and has worked with Java, Perl, Objective C, Scala, and JavaScript. The term “software engineer” was coined in the late 60’s, and it refers to the study and application of disciplined engineering principles to the design, development, and maintenance of software. In 1984, the federally-funded Software Engineering Institute was established. This was done in order to conduct proper research and development of the process through which software is created. Later, in 2004, accepted methods and practices of software engineering were collected by professionals and researchers, and then published as the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK). Though there is some criticism surrounding the use of the SWEBOK and use of the term “software engineering”, it is generally accepted as a sub-field of engineering.

In the SWEBOK, software engineering is divided into sub-disciplines:

  • Requirements engineering
    Software Engineering

    Software Engineering

  • Software design
  • Software construction
  • Software testing
  • Software maintenance
  • Software configuration management
  • Software engineering management
  • Software engineering process
  • Software engineering tools and methods
  • Software quality management
  • Software evolution

Programming 101

This is one thing which is a positive and a negative on Udemy: instructors are usually highly experienced, but they may not fit everyone’s expectations. This is why previews are available, and why Udemy has a 30-day money back guarantee. Overall, Udemy stands behind its instructors, their experience, and their unique educational content. Dixit’s introductory course has been taken by nearly 10,000 students, and includes 5 hours of video, spread over 102 lectures. The course is open to students of all levels, and is designed to help acquire knowledge in the fundamentals of data structure and algorithms. This is done by using graphics and animation, which make the lectures easier to follow and understand. The cost of this course is $65, and it is meant for anyone who is interested in a quick summary and revision of programming basics. This course is described as a must for anyone who is about to be interviewed for a programming position, and for those who wish to have lifetime access to the basics of programming.

The course covers analysis of algorithms, arrays, sorting algorithms, linked lists, stacks, queues, recursion, binary trees, hash tables, and heaps. Upon completion, a student will be able to write his or her own algorithms, and identify if their running time is optimal.

Don’t Forget Your Homework

There are chapter quizzes and assignments at the end of each section, which help the students gauge their progress and asses their advancement. One of Udemy’s shortcomings is the fact that these quizzes and assignments are not a real hurdle, and that students can continue on to the next chapter in the course, regardless of their scores on the quizzes or successful completion of their assignments.

Wave of the Future

Wave of the Future

Some users stated in their reviews that more videos should be added to cover the practical implementation of the concepts which are introduced, such as java implementation. Another user said that a video on complexity calculations would be very beneficial. No course can meet the exact expectations of each and every student, but overall this course is simple and effective. This is why this particular course comes highly recommended, and why it is Udemy’s top student pick.

Stages

Stages

Other courses which are offered as featured software engineering courses include Agile Scrum Training + Scrum Certification Prep – Training ($199), Become an Enterprise Architect with TOGAF (Part 1 & 2 – $197 & $149, respectively), The Basics of APIs (Free), and Visual Paradigm Essential (Free). To the left of the featured courses are related topics, which act as guides to other fields which may be of use and interest to those who are studying software engineering. These include software testing, programming languages, databases, IT certification, and finance – to name a few. Udemy can even be accessed from your smartphone, thanks to its mobile app design!

Become an Enterprise Architect with TOGAF 9.1 (parts 1 and 2)

Here is Scott Duffy’s Udemy pride and joy.  He gives over a two part course detailing from start to finish what it will take you to become an enterprise architect using TOGAF. He is constantly updating the course and has been since it’s inception in 2014. Between part one and part two there are over 13,000 students and the two share a 4.3 out of 5 stars. Scott expertly and enthusiastically teaches all that needs learning. The first course is much larger, containing 127 lectures and 8 hours of video to match the second course’s 31 lectures and 2.5 hours of video. Which makes sense seeing as how the second is a more advanced course building on the first one.

Anyone that has ever tried looking through the exhaustive 600 plus pages of TOGAF specs will unequivocally tell you that a course is needed to explain to you the murky waters that are enterprise architecture. Even though this field leads to a much more organized workplace and company structure, the software itself is a finicky, convoluted one. A primary goal of these courses is to prepare you for the TOGAF tests. Now even if you aren’t planning on taking the tests after these courses you can still benefit from them. I would just say that it seems to me a bit strange to take these courses if you weren’t planning on taking the tests, sort of like learning algebra by studying from an SAT prep book. That being said there is still plenty to be gained and your time would not be wasted.

Course one will cover these main components:

  • Specifics of TOGAF 9.1 exam ( how to book and Scott’s experience taking the test).
  • Understanding and tools within the TOGAF framework
  • All the ADM( Architecture Development Method) phases
  • Architecture governance and capacity as well as enterprise continuum and capability assessment for frameworks like TRM

Course two doesn’t need you to have passed the level one test but you need an understanding of TOGAF. It specifically covers topics like:

  • The part two exam (each section of the exam gets it’s own section here)
  • Deeper dive into TOGAF
  • ADM
  • Customizing lll-RM and TRM

These are courses for those that are serious about passing these exams and want to go to the best place for that. The cost of the same course at a conventional in person school would cost you upwards of $2,000, here the sale price is $25 and the full price for approximately $100 (the price for part one is more expensive as it is a far larger course). There are plenty of reasons to come to Scott for your schooling.

Software Testing : Learn Manual/QA Testing + ISTQB CTFL Help Review

A little sub division of SWEBOK known as software testing just so happens to be a 30 billion dollar business with that number only expected to grow. Instructor Pratibha Badiger really does seem to have a personal care for each of her students and takes the feedback she gets into account. he has turned this into an extremely well organized course, taking you step by step until the process is complete and you’ve mastered the entire concept of testing. Her teaching style consists of dynamic, structured content with clear and concise lectures. There are notes on each lesson as well as quizzes places at the end of each section to make sure you are keeping up. As always there is a lifetime enrollment so you can go back and relearn as well as access new material whenever it’s added. The course is listed for all levels but seeing as how there is a requirement of basic programming and excel/ spreadsheet knowledge I would imagine that it may not truly be for everyone. It does seem to be pretty well received among the 2,000 plus students with a 4.2 rating average. In this course you will learn:

  • The basics of testing
  • Careers in the field
  • SDLC models
  • Forms/levels of testing
  • Building test artifacts
  • Bugzilla
  • Automation basics/testing

Conclusion

Software engineering has plenty of different career options within itself. Offering a wide array of paths for potential workers to choose from and move to once one becomes routine is a big attraction to the field. Wherever you think that you fit in the spectrum Udemy has got you covered with excellent courses all around. There is so much to talk about and unfortunately we don’t have room here, but check out our homepage for more Udemy reviews and other great articles!

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