[GET] BUILDING A SEARCH ENGINE course for FREE!

[NullCrackerPro]

Can you really build a search engine in seven weeks?
You can, and we'll show you how! The core components of a search engine are surprisingly simple, and with a language as concise as Python, the entire program is only about one page of code. You will write key parts of this code yourself, and should completely understand the full search engine code by the end of the course.

Over the first three weeks, we will build a web crawler, which is a program that collects content from web pages to use in the search engine. In week 4, we'll build an index to be able to respond to queries. In week 5, we'll make the index fast enough that it could scale to a large collection of pages. In week 6, we'll implement a method for finding the best page for a search query, similar to the way Google ranks pages.

Are there homework assignments?
Yes. To learn computer science, it is important to solve progressively more challenging problems on your own, so there will be six graded homework assignments, one at the end of each unit. The homework assignments will be posted on Tuesdays 00:00 UTC and are due Mondays at 23:59 UTC. The homework assignments will be similar to the in-class quizzes and mostly cover material from that week's unit, except the homework assignments will include larger problems for you to solve on your own and you will be graded on the answers you submit.

How do I get help?
We love to see an active academic community, so we encourage you to post your question to the forum. Hopefully one of your peers will provide an adequate answer, but if not one of our course managers will chime in.

What are office hours?
Once a week we will take some of the top questions from the forum and Dave, Peter, and other guests will answer them in a recorded video. We will usually post office hours on Friday, so there is enough time to collect questions for that week's unit, but still some time for students to benefit from our responses in that unit's homework assignment.

I think one of the quizzes or homework assignments is judging my answer incorrectly, who do I contact?
Post your solution to the forum. If we realize an error in grading, or that multiple answers are correct, we will regrade the homework.

Can I get an extension on a homework assignment?
No. We understand that sometimes things come up that make it impossible to meet deadlines, but in a class this size it is impossible to fairly grant extensions. Note, though, that your lowest homework score is dropped in computing the final grade, so it will not count against you if you miss one homework assignment.

Is there a final exam?
Yes. The final week of the course will be a final exam, starting on April 2, 00:00 UTC and due April 7, 23:59 UTC.

How will my final grade be determined?
Your final grade will be determined 50% based on the homework assignments and 50% based on the final exam. For the homework assignments, your lowest homework score will be dropped. The remaining five homework assignments will count equally, as 10% of your total grade each.

What are the rules on collaboration?
Working with other students is often the best way to learn new things, and we hope students in the class will form vibrant communities, both on-line and in-person, to help each other learn. The key is to use collaboration as a way to enhance learning, not as a way of sharing answers without understanding them.

You are welcome (and encouraged) to view the lectures with others, and discuss and work together on answering the in-lecture quizzes. For the homeworks, you may discuss the questions with other students in the on-line forums and in-person study groups, but everything you submit should be your own work. For the final exam, you are not permitted to work with anyone else, and should only ask clarification questions on the on-line forums which will be answered by the course staff.

Do I need to download Python on my computer?
You do not need to download Python to take the course, as we provide all the necessary tools right in your browser. If you prefer to experiment locally you can download Python.

Something on the site isn't working, who do I contact?
Fill out the Contact Us form found at the bottom of each Udacity webpage.

After this course, what should I take next?
We will soon be announcing several follow-on courses that you'll be ready to take after completing cs101.

Code:

http://www.udacity.com/