Challenging ending to this great specialization (highly recommended)! Make sure you are prepared prior to starting the exam -- if you haven't been paying attention or putting work into the previous courses you will most likely not make it through the exam.

A friend of mine recommended this specialization to me. It took me over half a year to complete, but I'm glad I stuck out. This specialization is great for people who don't have much background in computer science. It started with building small games, and developed into more advanced topics of data structure and algorithm. The instructors are easy to follow, and if you don't understand something, you can always rewind the video and re-watch it. The forum is also a good resource to seek answer to your questions. By the time I finished the specialization, I have gained a much deeper understanding of programming compared to when I started it, and prepared me for further study in this field.

Learned heaps

This exam, as all of the previous courses, was enriching and joyful.

This specialization has been nothing short of awesome. This exam really caps it off on a high note. Not only the quizzes were challenging and interesting, they are also very relevant to all the concepts learnt throughout the specialization. The exam consists of a good mix of conceptual, algorithmic, debugging, optimization problems, graph modelling and mathematical computation problems. The very tight time frame of only a few weeks with only 1 single attempt each week forced me to be very careful with my solutions and double check my work carefully before submitting.

The only thing that I wish to see is that this exam should be 2 exams instead of just 1 exam. I sort of still hunger for more challenging exercises like this exam. I really hope that this capstone exam course sets a good example for other Coursera courses because challenging mini-exams like this are incredibly valuable tools to validate our knowledge.

Hands down, this specialization is the best on Coursera. It is a true zero-to-hero program of study that takes you from knowing nothing to a confident programmer by the end. The Capstone Exam reminds you of how much you have learned. I want to thank the professors, Joe, Scott and Luay for all the work (and love) they have put into this specialization. It really shows. I am honored to have been one of your students and will miss learning from you. I had a blast!

This is the best specialization for aspiring beginners: it does not cut slacks but constantly pushes you to become better and better! I have just finished a machine learning MOOC and realized that many of the things I learned from this course (esp. algorithmic thinking) are highly related! The specialization really prepares you well as you go further.

The exam had good questions and was not overly difficult after taking the other classes. I spent 7.5 hours on it and passed in first try despite making a few dumb mistakes like entering results in wrong format etc. It is possible to retake as many times as you want but there is a 3 day delay and they say questions change quite a lot.

I am glad that I have taken such a great specialization with great materials and very well though of courses. All of the professors are excellent in teaching and fun to learn from. I am hoping that they have planned to provide the advance courses to this specialization in the future.

Thank you so much to everyone who put this course together! It was challenging, interesting, and fun. There's no way I could have fit such a course into my life were it not for the MOOC format, and I'm so appreciative you've created this. THANK YOU!

Loved this specialization. My only complaint is that I became very attached to many of the other students in my cohort and I felt that this course did not give me adequate closure. We kinda needed an end of course virtual party. :)

Very fair, clearly written, and honestly kind of fun! :)

When entering answers, be careful to use the correct format--that messed me up on a few questions--and maybe throw in a few extra significant figures to be safe.

Amazing end to the whole specialization. The instructors are amazing with lots of character and clearly explained a lot of the difficult concepts. Overall this is a great course and helped me learn a lot.

The exam really covers all material in the course. Prepare yourself by reviewing all materials, especially on graphs, dynamic programming, and algorithm complexity.

Great Exam :D , this is an excellent specialization frankly, I highly recommended If you have zero idea about this domain.

An excellent course, the staff will always be there to guide you in case you are stuck. Thanks

This exam has very thoughtful questions, that make you appreciate how much you've learned.

The Capstone is challenging and makes the entire certificate worth while. Thanks Profs!

That was a great opportunity to check what I have learnt during the specialisation!

Tough exam, a great way to wrap up the specialization and solidify the material