Is Udacity's nanodegree of any use at all?
Posted Aug 22, 2017, 6:57 AM UTC
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I have watched some topics (beginner and intermediate). For absolute beginners, no use at all. For intermediate devs, maybe ok. It's better if you take some courses on Udemy (after mastering core Java) such as Tim's course or other courses (you may not understand some concepts in Tim's course if you are Java newbie).
1
If you mean paying for the nanodegree, I have no experience of that. But the actual courses that comprise the nanodegree are free, and have been pretty useful for me.
I did a Computer Science degree back in 2001, but then moved into a completely different field - I still remembered the basics of Java and OOP in general, but obviously a fair amount had changed. Even so, I found the courses easy enough to follow.
If you're already familiar with Java, do the following:
* Developing Android Apps
* Advanced Android Apps
If you have little or no experience with Java or just want to be introduced to Android at an even easier pace:
* Android Basics: User Interface
* Android Basics: User Input
* Android Basics: Multiscreen Apps
* Android Basics: Networking
* Android Basics: Data Storage
If at any time you struggle because of you have no familiarity with Java, then go do a beginner's course in Java.
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Just FYI, all the courses are free. You can even post in forums. I went thru it and honestly I don't think most places will hire you with the knowledge you learn there. They don't teach real world concepts like Rx. But I would suggest them to a "new to Android" Developer.
For beginning android developers Nanodegree is more than enough. Most Entry level positions won't even know what Futures and Promises are in Java let alone Rx. I do wish it taught more about architechtural design in Java and proper design patterns.