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:
Introduction to Practical Programming with Objects
This course is intended for students who have some previous programming experience, but would like to develop their ability to write complete, practical applications. The course uses an object-oriented approach, based around the Java language, but no previous experience of specific languages or technologies is assumed. (Note that most of our AI courses use Python, but even if you are mainly focusing on those courses, the skills developed here may still be useful to improve your general programming abilities and employability.)
This course is offered by EPCC, through their MSc programmes in 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 from C, Python, Fortran 90, and Java. Use of scientific libraries and profilers is also covered.
Note that this course has a quota, and EPCC students will be given priority, so if you want to register, you should do so as early as possible.
Computer Programming for Speech and Language Processing
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 two courses 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.