Writing, Running, and Fixing Code in C (Coursera)

Offered by Duke University,
Writing, Running, and Fixing Code in C (Coursera)

Building on the course Programming Fundamentals, this course will teach you how to write code by first planning what your program should do—an important approach for novice and professional programmers. You will learn how to compile and run your program, and then how to test and debug it. This course builds on the Seven Steps you have already learned and provides a framework for systematically testing for problems and fixing them, so you can find and fix problems efficiently.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 2 of 4 in the Introduction to Programming in C Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Writing Code
In this module, you will learn to write code and do your first assignment in the Practice Programming Environment. You have practiced the first four steps of the Seven Steps in the previous course, and you will review them here before learning Step 5: Translating Your Algorithm to Code. Expert programmers spend most of their time planning before they begin writing code, and you will learn to do the same!

WEEK 2
Compiling and Running
Now that you know how to plan an algorithm and translate it to code, you need to learn how to compile and run it! You will learn about the compiler, which takes the code you wrote and translates it into instructions a machine can execute, which you can then run. You will also learn about different options you can give the compiler, as well as different ways to run your program that give you debugging information.

WEEK 3
Testing and debugging
Two skills that are crucial to good programming are testing—finding problems with your code, and debugging—fixing them. In this module you will learn systematic ways to identify problems in your code, as well as how to apply the scientific method to fix your program when you do find a bug.

WEEK 4
Project
In this module you will begin the project you will complete over the course of the rest of the specialization. At the end of each course, you will write a piece of a program that will calculate the odds of different poker hands winning with a Monte Carlo simulation—a way to calculate complicated probabilities by generating random data.
Practice Programming Environment

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Big Data Analysis with Scala and Spark (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Big Data Analysis with Scala and Spark (Coursera)

Manipulating big data distributed over a cluster using functional concepts is rampant in industry, and is arguably one of the first widespread industrial uses of functional ideas. This is evidenced by the popularity of MapReduce and Hadoop, and most recently Apache Spark, a fast, in-memory distributed collections framework written in Scala. In this course, we'll see how the data parallel paradigm can be extended to the distributed case, using Spark throughout.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Design Computing: 3D Modeling in Rhinoceros with Python/Rhinoscript (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Design Computing: 3D Modeling in Rhinoceros with Python/Rhinoscript (Coursera)

Why should a designer learn to code? As our world is increasingly impacted by the use of algorithms, designers must learn how to use and create design computing programs. Designers must go beyond the narrowly focused use of computers in the automation of simple drafting/modeling tasks and instead explore the extraordinary potential digitalization holds for design culture/practice.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Learn Imba (Coursera) Coursera
Scrimba

Learn Imba (Coursera)

In this class, you'll dive into Imba, the programming language used to build scrimba.com. Imba, a compile-to-JavaScript language, packs a punch with nifty features for whipping up web apps, including built-in tags and styles. We'll cover the ABCs of Imba syntax and work on creating a Dopamine Box app. By the finish line, you'll be armed with the skills to construct your very own web app UI using Imba.

Sep 14th 2026
1 Week
Kotlin for Java Developers (Coursera) Coursera
JetBrains

Kotlin for Java Developers (Coursera)

The Kotlin programming language is a modern language that gives you more power for your everyday tasks. Kotlin is concise, safe, pragmatic, and focused on interoperability with Java code. It can be used almost everywhere Java is used today: for server-side development, Android apps, and much more. This course aims to share with you the power and the beauty of Kotlin.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Embedded Systems Software and Development Environments (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

Introduction to Embedded Systems Software and Development Environments (Coursera)

Welcome to the Introduction to Embedded Systems Software and Development Environments. This course is focused on giving you real world coding experience and hands on project work with ARM based Microcontrollers. You will learn how to implement software configuration management and develop embedded software applications. Course assignments include creating a build system using the GNU Toolchain GCC, using Git version control, and developing software in Linux on a Virtual Machine.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Python Data Structures (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Python Data Structures (Coursera)

This course will introduce the core data structures of the Python programming language. We will move past the basics of procedural programming and explore how we can use the Python built-in data structures such as lists, dictionaries, and tuples to perform increasingly complex data analysis. This course will cover Chapters 6-10 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. This course covers Python 3.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Learn JavaScript (Coursera) Coursera
Scrimba

Learn JavaScript (Coursera)

This is perhaps the most interactive JavaScript course ever recorded. It contains 140+ coding challenges, meaning that you will finally build that ever-so-important JavaScript muscle memory. You will solve the challenges directly in the browser thanks to Scrimba's interactive video technology, so there's not setup needed. Say goodbye to "tutorial hell" and get ready to start feeling your JavaScript superpowers grow exponentially.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Laboratório de Programação Orientada a Objetos - Parte 2 (Coursera) Coursera
Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil

Laboratório de Programação Orientada a Objetos - Parte 2 (Coursera)

Esta é a segunda parte do curso avançado de Programação Orientada a Objetos oferecido pelo Departamento de Ciência da Computação do IME-USP. O curso é voltado para profissionais ou estudantes interessados em Desenvolvimento de Software Avançado e que já dominam uma linguagem de programação e já conhecem os fundamentos básicos da orientação a objetos.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) (Coursera)

This course aims to teach everyone the basics of programming computers using Python. We cover the basics of how one constructs a program from a series of simple instructions in Python. The course has no pre-requisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 2) (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 2) (Coursera)

This two-part course is designed to help students with very little or no computing background learn the basics of building simple interactive applications. Our language of choice, Python, is an easy-to learn, high-level computer language that is used in many of the computational courses offered on Coursera. To make learning Python easy, we have developed a new browser-based programming environment that makes developing interactive applications in Python simple.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks