8 BEST Data Structures and Algorithms Courses (2024)

A Senior Software Engineer gets around $1,39,724 annually in the United States. The only way to reach that level is to understand data structures and algorithms well. The best data structures and algorithms course helps you get a high-paying job. Getting a job at a Big tech company like Google, Amazon, or Microsoft requires you to know a lot about data structures and algorithms. You need to have a sound understanding of DSA to get a job as a programmer or get a promotion.

A wrong DSA course can hamper your career growth. Hence, enrolling in the best DSA course online is beneficial. We have done the research for you so that you don’t have to. We have curated some of the best data structures and algorithms courses to help you.

Best Data Structures and Algorithms Courses

Course Name Provider Price Duration Key Topics Link
Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms Udacity Free 4 Months • Searching and Sorting
• Maps and Hashing
Learn More
Algorithms Specialization Coursera 7-day free trial 4 Months • Divide and Conquer
• Greedy Algorithms
Learn More
Data Structures & Algorithms – Python Udemy $16.99 8 Hours 2 Minutes • Big O
• Stacks & Queues
Learn More
Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization Coursera 7-day free trial 8 Months • Algorithms on Graphs
• Genome Assembly Programming Challenge
Learn More
Data Structures and Algorithms edX $535 5 Months • ArrayLists
• AVL and 2-4 Trees
Learn More

1) Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms (Udacity)

Rating: 4.5 | Duration: 4 Months | Fee: Free | Certificate: No | Level: Intermediate

Data Structures and Algorithms by Udacity is one of the best data structures and algorithms courses for beginners. The course will teach you common data structures and algorithms in Python. Brynn Claypoole and Horatio Thomas are the course leads. Claypool has over 5 years of experience in the field of data structures. She is currently working as a director (systems architect) at Slingshot Biosciences.

This free data structures course offers self-paced learning. It also provides practice problems and mock interviews to test your abilities. It also offers quality supervision, as your performance is reviewed by experienced engineers. They also discuss various interview approaches to help you become interview ready.

Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms

What You Will Learn:

  • Searching and Sorting
  • Introduction and Efficiency
  • Maps and Hashing
  • List-Based Collections
  • Technical Interviewing Questions and Practice Interviews
  • Case Studies in Algorithms
  • Trees and Graphs

Resources:

  • Instructor Videos – Industry experts have recorded the course videos.
  • Interactive Quizzes – This help to test the level of understanding.
  • Learn By Doing Exercises – To equip you with practical knowledge.
  • Mock Interviews – Enhances your interview approach.
  • Self-paced Learning.
  • Specific recommendations/suggestions by industry experts.

Suitable For You If:

  • You are a working professional and not able to spare time for long-duration courses.
  • Getting a concrete idea of DSA without paying any fees is your objective.
  • You do not have a fixed daily schedule.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Rich Learning Content No deep coverage of topics
Provides constructive feedback Mainly intended for interview preparation.
You can watch the course videos at any time of the day.

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2) Algorithms Specialization (Coursera)

Rating: 4.8 | Duration: 4 Months | Free Trial: 7 days | Fee: $49/month | Certificate: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Algorithms Specialization by Coursera is offered in association with Stanford University. You must have coding experience for this best data structures and algorithms course. It focuses more on conceptual understanding than mathematical details and low-level implementation. Learners need to undertake a multiple-choice quiz to test their understanding. Learners completing this course get a sound understanding of DSA. They can also hone their skills to ace technical interviews. This specialization includes four courses.

Tim Roughgarden, Ph.D. in computer science and a professor at Stanford University, is the course instructor. He has won multiple awards and is a thought leader in the DSA space.

Algorithms Specialization

What You Will Learn:

  • Shortest Paths Revisited, NP-Complete Problems
  • Graph Search, Shortest Paths, and Data Structures
  • Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching
  • Greedy Algorithms and Dynamic Programming

Resources:

  • Course Videos and Readings – Pre-recorded videos and curated content let you set your own pace.
  • Practice Quizzes – Help you look at the implementation side.
  • Graded Assignments and Quizzes – Peer provide feedback on these practice assignments.
  • Graded Programming Videos – Curated to make you interview-ready.
  • Shareable Certificate.
  • Subtitles for Course Videos. English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, and Spanish subtitles are available.

Suitable For You If:

  • You have at least a little programming experience.
  • Focusing more on applied learning is what you are looking for.
  • Your daily schedule allows you to have 4-5 hours/week to learn.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Big canvas of topics More expensive than other alternative courses
Fairly good in-depth teaching Not a beginner-friendly course

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3) Data Structures & Algorithms – Python (Udemy)

Rating: 4.7 | Duration: 8 Hours 2 Minutes | Fee: $16.99 for Full Course | Certificate: No | Level: Beginner

“Data Structures & Algorithms – Python” by Udemy makes learning to code fun. Even basic data structures often seem difficult when there are loads of numbers. It uses animations for this purpose. This best course for data structures and algorithms simplifies hard concepts. It animates the Data Structures and Algorithms. The course offers visually engaging content and helps learners understand more concepts quickly. Scott Barrett is the lead Instructor of the course. He has been professionally teaching data structures and programming for over three years. The course comprises 16 sections covered in 109 lectures totaling 8 hours and 2 minutes.

Data Structures & Algorithms - Python

What You Will Learn:

  • Big O, Classes & Pointers, Lists
  • Trees
  • Hash Tables
  • Stacks & Queues
  • Graphs, Searching
  • Recursion, Sorting

Resources:

  • Animated HD Videos – Over 100 hand-crafted videos on Data Structures and Algorithms.
  • Coding Exercises – Help you look at the implementation side.
  • Free Sample Videos- Provide you with the essence of the course.
  • Q&A Session with Tutor – solutions to individual-level problems.
  • Self-paced learning because it is a 100% online course.

Suitable For You If:

  • Preparing for coding interviews.
  • You want to add value to your knowledge about Data Structures & algorithms courses.
  • Your objective is to elevate your knowledge about programming without going for a degree.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Responsive tutor Not good for experienced programmers
30-day money-back guarantee Too short and less deep

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4) Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization (Coursera)

Rating: 4.6 | Duration: 8 Months | Free Trial: 7 days | Fee: $49/month | Certificate: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization by Coursera is the best DSA course online. Coursera, in association with UC San Diego, offers this course. It will provide you with the perfect blend of theoretical and practical knowledge. It consists of two real-world projects. Besides, you get offered the same material that top universities provide to their students. This course will also provide coding problems.

You can solve these coding problems in any programming language of your choice. The course has six instructors, including Neil Rhodes. Neil was formerly a staff software engineer at Google.

Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization

What You Will Learn:

  • Algorithmic Toolbox
  • Algorithms on Graphs and Strings
  • Data Structures
  • Genome Assembly Programming Challenge
  • Advanced Algorithms and Complexity

Resources:

  • Course Videos and Reading Materials – Curated as per the current market scenario.
  • Practice Quizzes – To test your understanding.
  • Two Real-world Projects – Big Networks and Genome Assembly.
  • Shareable Certificate.
  • 100% Online Course and Flexible Schedule.
  • Video Course in the English Language.
  • Instant Feedback on your solutions.

Suitable For You If:

  • You have basic knowledge of at least one programming language.
  • Sparing at least 6 hours a week for the course is possible for you.
  • You want a mix of theory, practice, and applications.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Course content is updated regularly Less-interactive teaching
Focus on applied knowledge Not offers an active discussion forum

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5) Data Structures and Algorithms (edX)

Rating: 4.5 | Duration: 5 Months | Fee: $535 for Full Course | Certificate: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Data Structures and Algorithms by edX is one of the best data structures and algorithms courses. It is a series of four courses. It covers designing efficient algorithms and the basic of data structures.

It is the best DSA course online and imparts the same knowledge and skillsets as the on-campus classes at Georgia Tech. This data structures and algorithm’s best course consists of 4 skill-building courses. Successful completion of this course improves the job outlook. Mary Hudachek-Buswell, Ph.D. in computer science, is the Instructor for this course. She is a senior lecturer at the Division of Computing Instruction, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Data Structures and Algorithms

What You Will Learn:

  • AVL and 2-4 Trees, Divide-and-Conquer Algorithms
  • Binary Trees, Heaps, SkipLists, and HashMaps
  • ArrayLists, LinkedLists, Stacks, and Queues
  • Pattern Matching, Dijkstra’s, MST

Resources:

  • Course Videos – Interactive videos for better engagement.
  • Reading Materials – Emphasis on latest updates.
  • Comprehension and Coding Exercises – Help you look at the implementation side.
  • Verified Certificate – You can share this with your profile.
  • 100% Online Course.
  • Video Course in the English Language With Transcripts.

Suitable For You If:

  • You know the basics of Java.
  • Earning a reputed certificate while working full time is your goal.
  • You want to do a course from one of the best institutions in the world.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Certificate from a top university Expensive
OIffers Trial course More theoretical than practical

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6) Data Science Foundations: Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization (Coursera)

Rating: 4.7 | Duration: 3 months at 9 hours a week | Fee: Free | Certificate: Yes | Level: Advanced

Data Science Foundations by Coursera is a comprehensive course. This course combines visual, theoretical, and hands-on programming approaches. It is one of the best DSA courses and the best algorithms courses. This best data structures and algorithms course will help you gain major skills.

The course explains the concept of Python Data Structures and Algorithms in a fun way. It explains some most important data structures, including stacks and queues. It is designed by UK-based Sriram Sankaranarayanan, who has 10+ years of teaching experience.

Data Science Foundations: Data Structures and Algorithms

What You Will Learn:

  • Pathfinding Algorithms in a Maze Game
  • The 2D List Data Structure
  • The Stack Data Structure
  • The Queue Data Structure
  • The Breadth-First Search Algorithm
  • The A* Search Algorithm

Resources:

  • Course Videos – Covers basic data structures.
  • Certificate of Completion – It will be sharable.
  • On-demand video.

Suitable For You If:

  • You want to advance your skills in Python.
  • Learning new techniques or polishing your skills in just a few hours is something you desire.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Free available Good only if you know Python in advance
Games-based teaching method

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7) Easy to Be Advanced Data Structures (Udemy)

Rating: 4.4 | Duration: 8 Hours 17 minutes | Fee: $12.99 | Certificate: Yes | Level: Beginner

Easy to Be Advanced Data Structures by Udemy requires you only to have basic computer science knowledge. It is one of the best data structures and algorithms courses available online. It provides learners with animated videos that explain a plethora of data structures. The course offers simple instructions to help you code various data structures together.

Each data structure has some working source code in Java for better understanding. It helps learners get some practical ideas about data structures. William Fiset, a software engineer at Google, teaches the course. He was also a finalist in ACM-ICPC, which is equivalent to the Olympics for competitive programming.

Easy to Be Advanced Data Structures

What You Will Learn:

  • Static and dynamic arrays
  • Stacks and Queues
  • Linked lists
  • Union find/Disjoint Set
  • Fenwick trees and AVL trees
  • Binary Search Trees and Hash tables
  • Sparse tables

Resources:

  • Course Videos – Prepared by industry experts.
  • Multiple-choice questions – Based on problems asked during interviews.
  • Coding Exercises – For practical understanding.
  • Completion Certificate.
  • On-demand video – To let you learn at your own pace.

Suitable For You If:

  • You want to have a solid idea of what data structures are all about.
  • Your foundation needs to be strong for advanced courses.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
30-day money-back guarantee Less elaborative
Concise content Certificates are not accredited

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8) Data Structures and Algorithms: Deep Dive Using Java (Udemy)

Rating: 4.4 | Duration: 15 Hours 59 minutes | Fee: $17.99 | Certificate: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Data Structures and Algorithms: Deep Dive Using Java by Udemy is an interactive course. It lets you learn the weaknesses and strengths of various data structures. You need to have basic knowledge of any Object-Oriented Programming Languages for this course.

This data structures course focuses more on the implementation part than the theory part. Completing this course will also help you secure a promotion to a higher post. The best data structures and algorithms course has 12 sections comprising 116 lectures.

It is one of the best Udemy courses for data structures and algorithms. Tim Buchalka and Goran Lochert are the instructors for this course. Tim has taught programming to more than 1.28 million students and has been a software developer for about 40 years. Goran has professional experience of over 14 years.

Data Structures and Algorithms: Deep Dive Using Java

What You Will Learn:

  • Arrays and Big-O Notation
  • Lists and Stacks
  • Sort Algorithms
  • Search Algorithms
  • Queues and Hashtables
  • Heaps, Trees
  • Source Code

Resources:

  • Pre-recorded and on-demand course videos – To let you cover the course at your own pace.
  • Practical problems – Apply conceptual learning in solving these problems.
  • Certificate – You can share this with your profile.

Suitable For You If:

  • Looking to undertake a detailed and in-depth course.
  • Your goal is not only to clear interviews, but also to improve your knowledge.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Detailed and in-depth course Less use of animations
Step-by-step explanation for theory and implementation Certificate cannot be used for formal accreditation

Enroll Now >>

FAQs:

Data structures and algorithms are two different aspects of programming. Data structure refers to the holding of data in an organized manner.

While algorithms are the processes used to solve problems using the data available. The best data structures and algorithms course helps you understand all concepts.

No, it is not difficult to learn elementary data structures and algorithms. You just need basic knowledge for the best data structures and algorithms courses.

Professionals with data structures and algorithms’ knowledge can easily crack programming job interviews. The best data structures and algorithms course is also helpful for you to get a promotion.

Every best DSA course online serves a different purpose. Some courses aim to help you grasp concepts. Others equip you with the skillsets required to clear job interviews.

Best Data Structures and Algorithms Courses

Course Name Provider Price Duration Key Topics Link
Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms Udacity Free 4 Months • Searching and Sorting
• Maps and Hashing
Learn More
Algorithms Specialization Coursera 7-day free trial 4 Months • Divide and Conquer
• Greedy Algorithms
Learn More
Data Structures & Algorithms – Python Udemy $16.99 8 Hours 2 Minutes • Big O
• Stacks & Queues
Learn More
Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization Coursera 7-day free trial 8 Months • Algorithms on Graphs
• Genome Assembly Programming Challenge
Learn More
Data Structures and Algorithms edX $535 5 Months • ArrayLists
• AVL and 2-4 Trees
Learn More