# Machine Learning by Andrew Ng

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Machine Learning by Andrew Ng and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a foundational introduction to machine learning that builds vocabulary and math basics. Main caveat: one critic calls MOOCs watered-down versions of real courses.

## Why people recommend it

- Good introduction to machine learning (3 comments): "That's how I got my start in ML, through Andrew Ng's course a little over a decade ago." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46317672)) "His intro to machine learning is probably the best out there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49149505)) "Andrew Ng's machine learning course, which was fantastic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46308018))
- Enjoyable, well-spent time (2 comments): "both were excellent. Time well spent IMHO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46301913)) "That was such a cool course." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47250092))
- Highly regarded course (2 comments): "he is a great educator and I trust that the current version is just as good as his old one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46490604)) "Andrew Ng's machine learning course, which was fantastic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46308018))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Math Academy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/math-academy.md): 35 recommend
- [Nand2Tetris](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nand2tetris.md): 31 recommend
- [Neural Networks: Zero to Hero by Andrej Karpathy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/neural-networks-zero-to-hero.md): 29 recommend
- [CS193p SwiftUI course by Paul Hegarty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cs193p-swiftui-course.md): 13 recommend
- [CS336: Language Modeling from Scratch](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cs336-language-modeling-from-scratch.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Machine Learning by Andrew Ng", https://hackerapproved.com/p/machine-learning-course/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).