mostafa.saad.fci's blog

Mastering 4 critical SKILLS using Python
By mostafa.saad.fci, 3 years ago, In English

Recently, I have recorded a Python programming course [Coupons] that focuses a lot on extensive practice, homework, and projects.

Edit: Seems many guys are not aware that Udemy sales are fake. Almost any course is 10-13 USD dollars. Stay on any page for a few hours and the price will drop. It is ugly, but Udemy understands the psychology & behavior of people when they see the word discount.

The course helps you master the 4 most important skills for a programmer

  • Programming skills

  • Problem-solving skills

  • Project building skills

  • OO Design skills

The relevant part here is the problem-solving part.

  • Fundamental topics such as loops and arrays are administrated with several ad-hoc algorithmic challenges.

  • After the course, one should have smooth entry to Data structures and Algorithms courses.

  • Solving in Div2-A (and maybe Div2-B) should be an easier experience.

Note: this is not an algorithms course.

  • It is a programming course that emphasizes the importance of easy-to-hard challenges.

  • Kindly read the homepage well to build proper expectations.

  • Share it with newcomers to our community.

  • Vote: I like it
  • +39
  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (44)
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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -31 Vote: I do not like it

I don't get why this is downvoted so heavily. Ok, you can get all this knowledge online for free — but it will take you much longer to discover which topics to target. For the very low price of $12.99 an instructor has accumulated all of the materials to get you started and take you slightly further than your usual YouTube tutorial series. Is it going to make you good at algorithms — no and author states so clearly, is ut going to teach you all needed to become good at algorithms — probably the greatest part of it (besides the practice ofc).

I can't judge the course and am not here to do that, but judging by the reviews it's a promising starting point for complete beginners.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

    Yeah but there are plenty of free resources on the internet, and he's charging for a very low-entry course. I would understand if it's an advanced course or something because then it would take time to prepare and be really valuable, but this covers basic stuff that can be found elsewhere.

    Codeforces EDU is much better, and I'm tired of mostafa.saad.fci posting these clear moneygrabs.

    Seriously "Python course for "solving div2A and maybe Div2B should be an easier experience." and "Fundamental topics such as loops and arrays are administrated with several ad-hoc algorithmic challenges."

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

      You're talking about a course that you haven'tried yet, not only that, you compared something you haven't even tried with other resources. On what basis are you making this comparison? Free resources are available for any topic, but this course goes beyond than teaching the basics. You also accused him of moneygrabbing? If you know his volunteering history and the quality of his content that he uploads for free, you wouldn't be making such a statement.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 6   Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

    I agree with Handler of Dragons.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +66 Vote: I do not like it

      Guys,

      • Any Udemy course is on average 13 dollars. It is well known that almost all courses can be at a discount price! The author typically gets from 20-50% of the subscription, except a few exceptions.

      • In my long teaching experience, I met many students who find Div2-A hard with normal programming courses. Programming courses with a competitive programming style prepare students much better.

      • A few minutes of browsing the course will show you the homework is provided in the video, not in the boring style of Udemy.

      • If you can find a high-quality free course, go with it. I personally don't pay for a course unless tried and learned from some free materials first. This makes me more capable of evaluating the paid courses.

      • I am well known for my volunteering activities. I don't have to make every single thing for free. Calm down and be rational!

      • I am offering a paid service. Take it or leave it. I am an honest guy in terms of what you get from a course. No overmarketing. That is all that is required of me. No need for all of these offenses in the comments and messages!

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
        ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

        true true

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
          ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +33 Vote: I do not like it

          • ِPractically, all Udemy courses are at 13 dollars. Beginner or advanced, it doesn't matter.

          • Programming is much more than just competitive programming. The course has several skills to establish in a good way for beginners. You can build big projects and still fail to solve basic algorithmic problems.

          • Note: the 2nd part of the course is missing some topics. This is clarified in the course description.

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            3 years ago, # ^ |
            ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -11 Vote: I do not like it

            You haven't adressed hte 94 dollars without discount thing...? $13 dollars is arguably reasonable, but 94 is quite insane

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              3 years ago, # ^ |
                Vote: I like it +26 Vote: I do not like it

              You don't know how Udemy works. Simply stay on any course page for a few hours it will be dropped to ~13 dollars. I am writing in simple English. ِ**Practically, all Udemy courses are at 13 dollars. Beginner or advanced, it doesn't matter.**

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                3 years ago, # ^ |
                ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

                alright makes me feel better about the whole hting i thought it was 100 dollars lmao

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        Hey mostafa.saad.fci!

        Many people writing negative comments don't know about your overall contributions. Which is a shame because they wouldn't be writing that otherwise.

        So please don't be discouraged by negativity here. There are 10x more people who will be happy to vouch for you. All the best!

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +31 Vote: I do not like it

          Thanks for your kind words :)

          I got too many requests to convert my youtube channel content from Arabic to English. I never took an action as I always thought there is already a lot of English content. I almost finished what I wanted to say in my Arabic Channel and thought maybe If I started this effort as Udemy paid courses I will be encouraged to go that far and reproduce the content in higher quality, but so far I am just disappointed (from Udemy / and the community).

          I guess programming is the first step. This is one motivation for starting with them. These programming courses are not actually intended for guys who practice now on CF. It is for newcomers to our communityies. There are too many people who lack organized materials. Many free materials are out there but a few are of decent quality.

          Thanks again :)

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            3 years ago, # ^ |
              Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

            I 100% agree with what you said. Organized material is super helpful.

            Almost all the top comments on your videos are requesting to provide material in English, so your assumption was not entirely wrong. Although I have couple of theories about why it's not working and possibly a solution too. I can email you my ideas if you don't mind.

            Also, I agree with what Errichto mentioned in comment below. He also knows about your contributions, so his opinion matters more than random naysayers :-)

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              3 years ago, # ^ |
                Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

              Sure, feel free to msg me with thoughts.

              At the moment, I am thinking to cancel my problem-solving plans. It will be useless if just posts here keep getting a lot of downvoting.

              I already gave a form in my juniors sheet for guys to subscribe for my courses notifications and got very few subscriptions. If the community welcomes only free materials, I guess it is hard for me to stay motivated for a long time again. I had the motivation once for the Arab community when I had a lot of free time.

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                3 years ago, # ^ |
                  Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

                Not sure about anyone else here, but I thought it was 94 dollars which is where my skepticism came from.

                Sorry about starting the whole downvoting thing! I truly regret, and I wish I could somehow undo my actions....

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Seriously man charging 13 dollars (keep in mind, this is discounted — it used to be $100) for Python course for "solving div2A and maybe Div2B should be an easier experience." What a rip-off.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

    Note: this is not an algorithms course.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 6   Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

      Note: Without the discount (which ends in 5 days), it costs 94 dollars.

      Note: Div 2A/B are not about algorithms, just simple basic problem-solving abilities.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        Dude, programming is more than solving div2 A or B. In a project, you can't name your struct Loli or code everything in your solve function. There's much more to it. And the discount thing, it is just a common marketing tactic to make people buy it immediately.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

          May as well adress the fact that problem-solving is a subset of actual programming imo. But whatever. The OP has adressed my concerns, so I'm going to stop here.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +27 Vote: I do not like it

I have two ideas about promoting paid content on codeforces:

  • there should be a way (and maybe requirement) of giving codeforces money via affiliate links.

  • consider having your course audited by someone from codeforces community who's competence in a given topic is measured by rating, not an academic degree. For example, pajenegod and conqueror_of_tourist both managed to become grandmasters using (almost) exclusively python. To me, and I believe many others, recommendation from such community members would mean a lot, so it would play well for you revenue-wise (and for whoever audits such a course, because they wouldn't do that cheaply).

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +88 Vote: I do not like it

I don't like that the CF community by default rejects non-free products. A good course for beginners can be much better than random materials if it's prepared by an experienced teacher. And there is no lack of beginners in Codeforces so IMO it's a good place to announce this course. It can't be ignored how much Mostafa did for free for the community.

Codeforces EDU is much better, and I'm tired of mostafa.saad.fci posting these clear moneygrabs.

CF EDU isn't even close to being a full introductory course to programming. If the course isn't bad and the price isn't high then how is it a "clear moneygrab"?

Seriously man charging 13 dollars (keep in mind, this is discounted — it used to be $100) for Python course for "solving div2A and maybe Div2B should be an easier experience." What a rip-off.

I'm not aware of any courses online that are cheaper than 10 bucks.

But yeah, Udemy uses this stupid strategy of lying about discounts for all their courses. Blame the company. Or actually blame us, the public, for falling for this (because otherwise Udemy wouldn't do it).

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +32 Vote: I do not like it

    reminds me of those minecraft servers which would have a "95% off sale" 365 days of the year

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

      Haha right, I never really understood what was going on with that Udemy pricing. I haven't taken that Python course of Mostafa Saad because I don't consider myself a Python beginner anymore:) But I recently discovered Mostafa Saad "junior sheet for CP" and it really helped me in a lot of ways, much more than other paid course I took on Udemy. Actually I just want to say thank you to Mostafa for making that spreadsheet. And if you ever make a course on Udemy for 13 dollars about CP, count me in.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        Glad that you found it useful. There is another major sheet in my blog posts, try it after you finish the juniors one.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +23 Vote: I do not like it

    I don't like that the CF community by default rejects non-free products.

    Why do you think it's being conceived negatively because it's not free? Petrozavodsk camp isn't free but it's generally conceived well.

    As you've pointed out in your last paragraph, that site is screaming of "this is a scam". I can't find any reason someone would put his course on that site without themselves being one of those scammers. Let along the click-baity title of this post.

    It can't be ignored how much Mostafa did for free for the community.

    Are you talking about those "free coaching"? I've heard story of a few people who is/was under his supervision and apparently they're just getting random problems and a sheet to fill. Of course, that's all that you need to get good, but I think it's absurd that someone's getting credit for that.

    Feel free to correct me, but, as of now, I couldn't find a reason not to believe that he's just using name values of blue ~ low red level coders for his cash grab on Udemy site.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

      You couldn't find a reason? can you honestly tell me where have you looked?

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        I thought I already did?

        This post (including Udemy site he linked), his previous posts, and words from those who is/was under his supervision.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it -14 Vote: I do not like it

          You have no clue about his contributions yet you make hurtful assumptions. If you are not willing to put in the time to make a proper research, and not a lousy one, then don't accuse someone of anything. Honestly I have no intention of mentioning what he have done because you're so toxic and haven't asked questions for clarification. For a red coder, you're quite dumb.

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            3 years ago, # ^ |
              Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

            First of all, having a red color on CF doesn't reflect anything about one's intelligence so throw that away whatever fantasy you have about us.

            Secondly, could you please point out which assumption I made wasn't fair? He's literally asking to buy his product on CF and you want others to just blindly buy them without questioning anything? In this circumstance, I believe he is the one who's responsible for vouching for his own credibility, not us. And so far, none of them have convinced me. And probably lots of others too, judging from other comments not receiving this advertisement well.

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              3 years ago, # ^ |
              ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -14 Vote: I do not like it

              Let's start with your fallacious reasoning. On what basis you assumed that this site is full of scammers? If Codeforces is full of cheaters then anyone who registers on this site is considered a cheater? You specifically said "I can't find any reason someone would put his course on that site without themselves being one of those scammers." On what basis as well you assumed that people under his supervision are getting random problems and a sheet to fill? Where is your solid proof? Can you mention exactly from whom you heard that? Literally who told you that Mostafa's contribution to the community is just this free coaching thing as well? If you can't even figure out what he have and still contributing then your opinion isn't even considerable. To call someone who volunteered for 10+ years in this community, uploaded 400+ videos covering almost every topic on competitive programming, answered 61k questions on his ask.fm account, created a juniors sheet with not randomly selected problems as a scammer, is simply hurtful and idiotic at the same time.

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                3 years ago, # ^ |
                  Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

                On what basis you assumed that this site is full of scammers

                I didn't say this site is full of scammers. I said this site 'looks' scammy. What do you expect people to think about the site when the first thing you see after following the link is this?

                On what basis as well you assumed that people under his supervision are getting random problems and a sheet to fill

                If you're accusing me of not having the right information why don't you actually provide what he actually do as a coach? Obviously I'm not gonna post who told me about this in public.

                If you can't even figure out what he have and still contributing then your opinion isn't even considerable. To call someone who volunteered for 10+ years in this community, uploaded 400+ videos covering almost every topic on competitive programming, answered 61k questions on his ask.fm account, created a juniors sheet with not randomly selected problems as a scammer, is simply hurtful and idiotic at the same time.

                So anyone who's not in the mostafa-worshipping-club and following everything he does is idiotic? You still have not explained why my argument against Errichto that this advertisement is viewed negatively not because it's not free, but because it looks suspicious, isn't fair.

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

                  What does the price has to do with the content or it being a scam? And NO you did not say this site looks scammy, you literally said this site screams "this is a scam". You are basically softening the vocabulary you actually used so that you look innocent. It's not gonna work. Tmwilliamlin168 was part of his supervision, he gave a positive feedback and recommended mostafa's sheet on his channel. "So anyone who's not in the mostafa-worshipping-club and following everything he does is idiotic?" Not in what now? I am simply replying to the accusation of you calling him a scammer. I have done so successfully. I never asked you to follow everything he does, I mentioned the reason why I'm replying to you. Take care

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

                  May as well note that according to him, Udemy does this thing where it says 90% discount or whatever by default. The course is 13 dollars period (according to him).

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

                  What does the price has to do with the content or it being a scam?

                  He is not talking about the price, he is talking about the 4 hours left at this price!!! which is a strong indication of scamminess and an unethical business tactic at best. Especially if it is not true and the discount is always there.

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

                  You have no idea how udemy works The instructor sets a minimum and a maximum price for his course, and udemy can make discounts and end them whenever they want. "4 hours left at this price" has nothing to do with the instructor and it's a strong indication of your ignorance.

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

                  How does this contradict my comment?

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                    Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

                  How is "4 hours left at this price" a strong indication of scamminess and an unethical business tactic if the instructor of a udemy course isn't responsible for the offers that udemy makes on their courses? Also re-read the update of the blog.

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                  3 years ago, # ^ |
                  ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

                  You are imagining that I'm saying some things that I've never said.

                  I have never said that that this "4 hours left at this price" was the fault of the instructor. Neither has Savior-of-Cross. He posted this picture to show the scamminess of the site.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +37 Vote: I do not like it

          Arabic competitive programming channel For me this is one of the greatest contributions to the community and It was my primary source of training sinse I wrote my first helloworld program till now "but I'm not part of his private training". I understand that currently there are lots of great channels and resources for learning algorithms but take into account that he started the channel 7 years ago when you almost couldn't find any well structured resources specially on youtube and for free!

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            3 years ago, # ^ |
              Vote: I like it +12 Vote: I do not like it

            I understood his "contribution to the community" part. Thanks for letting me know :)

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Let me guess, the videos are in Arabic?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    He said the point of his udemy courses are to try out providing organized English resources...

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +22 Vote: I do not like it

I find the title clickbaity

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