15 Best Programming Basics Courses on Coursera
We compared 15 Programming Basics courses currently listed on Coursera, priced from $9.99 to $49.00. 6 come from a named university or institution, including University of Colorado System, University of California, Santa Cruz and University of Michigan. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.
- Courses compared
- 15
- Price range
- $9.99 – $49.00
- Providers
- Coursera
- Last updated
- 30 Aug 2026
How these 15 courses were chosen
Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Coursera, matched to "programming basics" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.
The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.
There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $9.99 to $49.00, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.
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1
Algorithms, Data Collection, and Starting to Code
Offered by University of Colorado System
This course starts you on your journey learning about computational thinking and beginning C programming. If you’d like to explore how we can interact with the world in a rigorous, computational way, and would also like...
$49.00listed price -
2
C and Go: Classical and Modern Programming
Offered by University of California, Santa Cruz
This specialization is intended for all programming enthusiasts, as well as beginners, computer and other scientists, and artificial intelligence enthusiasts seeking to develop their programming skills in the classical l...
$49.00listed price -
3
C# Programming for Unity Game Development
Offered by University of Colorado System
This specialization is intended for beginning programmers who want to learn how to program Unity games using C#. The first course assumes no programming experience, and throughout the 4 courses in the specialization you'...
$49.00listed price -
4
Web Applications for Everybody
Offered by University of Michigan
This Specialization is an introduction to building web applications for anybody who already has a basic understanding of responsive web design with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Web Applications for Everybody is your introd...
$49.00listed price -
5
Programming for Data Science
Offered by University of Leeds
Explore the basics of programming and familiarise yourself with the Python language. After completing this course, you will be able to write Python programs in Jupyter Notebook and describe basic programming. In this cou...
$49.00listed price -
6
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming
Offered by Goldsmiths, University of London & University of London
This specialisation covers topics ranging from basic computing principles to the mathematical foundations required for computer science. You will learn fundamental concepts of how computers work, which can be applied to...
$49.00listed price -
7
Sistemas difusos
Offered by Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Los sistemas difusos permiten efectuar cálculos cuando hay información con incertidumbre, o cuando se debe combinar información tanto cuantitativa como cualitativa. Se trata de una aproximación matemática para modelar es...
$49.00listed price -
8
Build Real-world Projects Using Replit and Ghostwriter
Offered by Board Infinity
Welcome to "Build Real-world Projects Using Replit and Ghostwriter", the introductory course to understand the basics of Replit and Ghostwriter. This course will introduce you to the essentials of using Replit as an inte...
$49.00listed price -
9
Crash Course on Embedded C Programming
Offered by Packt
This course features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the co...
$49.00listed price -
10
Pointers and Memory in C: Build a Rocket Display Module
Offered by Coursera
Do you know that almost 70% of embedded system software and firmware are written in C because of its ability to directly access device memory? In this 1.5 hour project-based course, you will learn the basics of C pointer...
$9.99listed price -
11
Web3 Development for Beginners - No Coding Skills Required
Offered by Packt
This course features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the co...
$49.00listed price -
12
HTML Quick Start
Offered by Madecraft
The web is built on HTML. Every page you visit, every button you click, and every form you fill out exists because someone wrote HTML to put it there. If you've ever wanted to build something on the internet and wondered...
$49.00listed price -
13
Learn to Program: The Fundamentals
Offered by University of Toronto
Behind every mouse click and touch-screen tap, there is a computer program that makes things happen. This course introduces the fundamental building blocks of programming and teaches you how to write fun and useful progr...
$49.00listed price -
14
Object-Oriented Java: Inheritance and Encapsulation
Offered by Codio
Code and run your first Java program in minutes without installing anything! This course is designed for learners with limited coding experience, providing a solid foundation of not just Java, but core Computer Science t...
$49.00listed price -
15
z/Architecture Assembler Language Part 1: The Basics
Offered by IBM
Welcome to z/Architecture Assembler Language Part 1: The Basics, the first course three part series for the z/Architecture Assembler Language. This course provides an introduction to z/Architecture and the Assembler lang...
$49.00listed price
Best Programming Basics Courses on Coursera compared
Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.
What the prices here tell you
The 15 priced courses on this page run from $9.99 to $49.00, with the middle of the range around $49.00 — a spread of $39.01. The options are closely priced, so cost is unlikely to be your deciding factor. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.
Who is behind these courses
These courses come from Coursera. Everything on this page is sold on the one platform, so the buying experience is the same whichever you pick. 6 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including University of Colorado System, University of California, Santa Cruz and University of Michigan — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.
Before you enrol
Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 30 August 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.