When comparing Udacity - CS101 vs exercism.org, the Slant community recommends exercism.org for most people. In the question“What are the best resources to learn Python?” exercism.org is ranked 4th while Udacity - CS101 is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose exercism.org is:
Rather than merely test for code correctness, Exercism uses peer review to improve general programming techniques. Users are encouraged to comment on others' solutions, and refine their own based on feedback.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Active forums
Udacity has among the most active communities out of all MOOCs.
Pro Motivates by giving you real-world project
In this Udacity class you will learn how to build a working web crawler without any programming background required.
Pro Good teaching staff
Everything is explained in an easy to comprehend manner and the teaching assistants are dedicated and friendly.
Pro Beginner-friendly
There is no prior programming knowledge needed for this course.
Pro Human review and feedback
Rather than merely test for code correctness, Exercism uses peer review to improve general programming techniques. Users are encouraged to comment on others' solutions, and refine their own based on feedback.
Pro Practice with production tools
Unlike many code practice websites, Exercism requires the user to develop and test entirely offline, submitting only the finished code. This promotes familiarity with essential tools and workflow, not just the bare language.
Cons
Con Just one kind of certification
Udacity only gives out one kind of certification. It doesn't differentiate between skill.
Con Custom commandline client
Exercism requires using a CLI utility to fetch and submit exercises. This is inconvenient compared to web-only alternatives, and poses an additional barrier to entry for some users.