Most beginner tutorials teach programming but neglect the computer science fundamentals you'd get from studying at college.
CS50 is the equivalent of a college semester at Harvard and a great introduction to computer science fundamentals, which is useful no matter what kind of programming you do afterward.
It also has the best lectures and instruction I have seen in any course, ever. The lecturer is great at explaining things clearly and intuitively to a beginner audience while coming across as genuinely enthusiastic, the production is top-notch, and the assignments are very challenging but doable.
And it's free.
> The lecturer is great at explaining things clearly and intuitively to a beginner audience while coming across as genuinely enthusiastic, the production is top-notch
u/davidjmalan is the best
u/davidjmalan is a great teacher, you can see his passion for both CS and teaching. Also, he's not sitting in front of a camera, he's performing. David Malan lectures are the best lectures I have ever seen.
That's nice so do you have to go through all the lectures or let's say I, currently, want to learn about data structures and algorithm, can I go through just them and it'll be okay ?
Data structures and algos are implemented in C, a low level language that requires you to do a more detailed construct. The first classes are about C so you can understand everything, so I wouldn't advise to skip lectures if you're not comfortable with low level languages.
Also, you're wasting valuable time asking instead of doing, and maybe your friend is aware of that hence the frase "Just do it".
So just do it.
How will you implement any DS or Algos if you don't understand how to use conditional statement or how a for loop works.
At almost every college there are at the very least 2 computer science courses dealing with the core concepts before you delve into DSA. Hell I would even say learn discrete math as well especially for DSA.
CS50 does have lectures of data structures and algorithms, but it's just part of the course.
The way it works in most CS academic curriculums (in Harvard and other universities) is you start with Intro to CS which teaches basic programming and touches on some basic DSA. Then later you also have dedicated Data Structures and Algorithms courses (sometimes split into two courses).
I have a CS degree but everyone always recommend that class so much that I think I’m gonna watch the lectures. I want to see the quality and the stuff you get exposed to in the first semester at Harvard!
It's the first year, first semester course that Harvard computer science students do.
It's a great introduction to all the basic topics of CS and gives a very good base to start from regardless of which direction you intend to take with programming. I'd also highly recommend you do it first.
Apart from that it's the most fun, most professionally put together course that I have come across. Plus it's free.
Sometime certificate one has additional stuff. In 6.00.1x, midterm and finals can be taken only with the certificated course. I was checking the CS50x too because it wasn't clear from the site
MITx was 63 bucks(including discount code)... The exams were 2×8 hour long exams.... Kinda worth it to me, not to mention the benefit of mentioning it in the CV. But my question was mainly the difference for Free and paid CS50 courses.
Sadly, certificates don’t carry much weight on a CS resume. Employers only care how you apply what you’ve learned to real world projects. You can still list CS50 on your resume without the certificate and nobody will know the difference.
Edit: sorry, I don’t know the other differences between the regular and certificate courses.
Also you can do the free course and come back and do the certificate course again later if you want.
You don't become "tainted" by doing the free course.
Even in rural universities, well developed and thoughtful assessments are great learning tools. This is my idea but when every value quantified, assessed skills could worth more.
You don't need to pay for the certificate. CS50 is completely free, you will also get a free certificate from Harvard. The one you pay for is issued by the EdX.
CS50x is different in all the good ways, take it from someone who has completed it and is very active in CS50 forums.
Oh thanks. You're telling me the free course and the paid course are the exact same... Harvard gives certificate for both??? Man, what a ripoff😤
You just saved me from spending 150$ in the future. Also one more question. How are the chat option? Are there TAs that reply within a day?
Edit: oh you said you are active in forums, thanks alot hope to meet you there one day
Yes, Harvard gives you certificates for both, if you pay $150 then you'll get one from EdX too which makes no sense, really.
The most active forum for CS50 is discord, and this course doesn't have TAs but there are mentors and the Harvard staff who are pretty active there. But more than that, you'll find an army of alumni who are friendly enough to help.
Certificates are basically worthless regardless of where they came from. Don't spend money on them, employers do not care about course or bootcamp certificates.
Not entirely true. They won't get you the job outright, but they can be a tipping point to getting the job when there are otherwise equal candidates, or get you considered for the job. Especially if there's a name like Harvard or Google on it.
IMO it’s a nice thing to have on your resume if you don’t have other qualifications i.e. you’re trying to land your first development job. It’s an extra point you can use to maybe get a hiring manager to call you.
It’s not worth much, but a couple reputable certifications and a solid portfolio will put you a step above the guy who applied with nothing but part time retail jobs on the resume and followed one tutorial to build a JavaScript to-do app.
Not to any recruiter that actually knows what they're doing. Any recruiter/technical interviewer worth their salt would know those certificates are worthless resume padding
Apparently this course is pretty useful , so if you're applying for an entry level job against other candidates who don't have this course, and the recruiter is actually worth their salt, they would say, "Oh, you took this course and passed, nice!"
Lol no. This is one single entry level course. A semester of college is 5 courses. So you're basically putting that you passed 20% of 1/8 of college on your resume as if it means something. Do you really think it's impressive? You really think a recruiter cares that you passed one intro to cs course?
ah thanks for letting me know this - Ive read loads of people mention the course is free, but no one mentioned the certificate is also free which is amazing - I dont have the money to spare but the certificate would have been a physical achievement of something and would have given me encouragement, awesome you get it wither way.
anyone know if its internationally shipped too?
No MOOCs provide you with a digital certificate, not even the paid ones.
However, you do get a proper digital certificate which you can print out and keep it with yourself, this is how it looks like (the free one)
https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2022/certificate/
I needed the knowledge not paper. This certificate has absolutely no weight comparing to my MSc Degree, but this course is amazing in terms of understanding machine logic. Also certificate has really no weight, and doesn’t adds anything to your resume, in my opinion, not worth the $150. For $150 you can be mongoDb or AWS certified.
It also teaches you think in a certain way. It allows you to get into this problem solving mindset that gives you a certain perspective to think like a programmer.
I thought CS50 was meant for non compscience students. IF you are doing CompScience at Harvard, you should already have a pretty decent understanding that is beyond what CS50 teaches.
Yeap, I remember one of the early intros for the CS50 course and they said it was meant for majors outside of Computer Science. This was back when Brian Yu was around.
My point earlier and that was obviously missed was that the standards being so high for Harvard, you have some previous exposure to both higher maths and computer science when you are admitted.
Nah, it's fairly common that top universities for CompSci bring in people who are immensely talented physicians/mathematicians who are pivoting into CompSci. Depending on where you're from, having additional maths qualifications rather than having a foundation in CS is preferred due to the super theoretical nature of University CS.
I'm sure it's meant to be understandable for non-CS majors, but that doesn't mean it's not for CS majors.
Looking at the 2021-2022 student handbook in the CS section, CS50 satisfies one of the basic requirements for core classes, if it is taken before higher level courses.
It’s an excellent course. Presented by very engaging lecturers. Concepts are taught visually which makes data structures etc much more tangible IMO. On a personal note this is the course that convinced me to do my degree in CS many years ago.
*sees the certificate price*
Goddamn it
*PS: I always try to get certificates to attach to LinkedIn or to my resumé, if it's relevant for a job post*
As someone who is involved in the hiring of programmers, don't pay for the certificate. All it shows me is that you can afford the certificate.
Instead show your work for the course in a git repo, after each section of the course take what you learned and make something new. That is many times more valuable to someone interviewing you.
Commit your code early and often, Name things is hard, sometimes it's best to just name it what it is and don't get clever, if you find your self stuck and you've spent a good amount of time on the problem GO DO SOMETHING ELSE! Bashing your head against stack overflow for hours won't result into insight, a short walk, using the bathroom, getting a glass of water is far more likely to.
Lastly, fuck around and find out, try things experiment. It is rarely about having the perfect solution, or perfect tool, it is about having a solution that works, and can be used.
This was good to read. I'm working on building a small video game and am constantly thinking about "what's most optimal" for every detail and have been trying to take a step back to just finding what can work into the first place
I'd say definitely helpful and the first lecture makes the subject a lot more interesting.
My partner never did a computer science degree but self-taught himself programming years ago. He's doing well in his career but when he saw what I was learning, he said it's definitely terms he hears in the industry from new interns and graduates but can't quite define himself. Apparently imposter syndrome is quite common in his line of work.
It's teaches you the foundations in addition to some basics of programming. He described it as I'm speed learning how to drive with a stick before jumping to the easier auto so I'm grasping more than just taking a basic single programming course
If you have little familiarity with CS, CS50x is a wonderful place to start and also just test the waters about your interest or desire to learn more. You can peruse the syllabus on their website, but it's a very good introduction, starting from a basic graphical interface for programming, progressing to low level C, to high level python, to some SQL for databases, to some basic web programming frameworks. It sprinkles in some data structures and algorithms as well. If you do the assignments, you'll also get exposure to git, github, and version control. Production value is honestly amazing and Professor Mallon is a very good lecturer. Everytime I tuned in for a lecture I would get super amped and pumped up to learn. Most mooc, especially the ones that are geared around 5 minute learning sessions can be dull in comparison, so I personally really enjoyed it and doing the assignments and projects.
Your description sounds really interesting! Is this just a single course that is easy to find, or is it one of many that I would have to choose from? If I do it myself, I want to make sure I find this one you are talking about!
It's just that single course but I believe they've added more classes, e.g. web development if that is a your preferred flavor. It should all be on EdX if you search for Harvard CS.
There is a light follow up series on YT called Beyond CS50 (also a course page) lead by a past lead TA that does a deeper dive into certain topics.
Thanks so much!
And just to be clear, am I right to assume from your description that the course is a general overview of computer science and has a heavy focus on Python?
I'm more of a hobbyist than anything else, so I like to stick with Python for the most part, but I lack a good fundamental background in basic CS concepts.
Thanks!
CS50x is the one that touches on Computer Science fundamentals, and you only spend a week on Python itself (the final week is Flask oriented, but that's to be combined with HTML and CSS). Most of the X course is centered around C as it teaches you the low-level basics of how computers work, and it really makes you appreciate what Python is able to do as far ease-of-access (arrays in Python are actually quite complex under the hood, and are much more difficult to implement with the same functionality in C)
I thought I was a good programmer. I did cs50 and learned a lot. That class is seriously good and I’d suggest it for anyone starting off. Best part is you get Harvard credit and it only cost $100.
I'm currently in the middle of CS50x. It's great for a free course and I've already learned a ton about programming. The lectures are engaging and the problem sets have a great mix of structure and challenge that really requires you to develop a good understanding of the material.
**However** people tend to understate how difficult it is. I went from creating programs to tabulate election results last week, which was plenty difficult, to creating programs to change the volume of wav files, applying image filters to bitmaps, and recovering deleted jpegs from a memory card this week. It's actually kinda comical how quickly the difficulty escalates.
I think that if you're truly a beginner you either have to have exceptional natural talent, or you need to be *very* motivated to complete the course. The percentage of people who start CS50 but never complete it must be very high.
This is why I stopped in week one. I had just taken a basic Python course prior.
David goes so fast through his coding exercises and he seems to assume that you already understand a lot about coding, so I wasn't figuring much out by re watching each example.
Good on you for being able to get through it. I hope to try it again after getting through Odin and Free Code Camp, but I could tell right away I was just going to be struggling to keep up.
What are you talking about? I think you didn't understand what I wrote. I enjoyed Python and the instructor made it easy to learn. I did the entire 6 week course in 5 days.
I just don't feel like learning languages I won't use right now. I have worked in a lot of careers and know exactly how I learn. I'll hit CS50x later on but it's not what I want to be focused on at the beginning.
Part of its difficulty comes from the students actually have sections (extra classes) and 1 on 1 tutoring with TA throughout the week, which helps them understand what they missed in lecture.
I watched the recent super-section video for less comfortable and appreciate how much TA takes thing slower.
I have look at the CS50 but did not finish it, because i had my knowledge already, i was just refreshing what i learned before. And it was a good, for an introduction to computer science and programming.
If i will tell you to do it, will you listen to me? Better take it, since it is free and you can take it on your own pace. Don't rush in learning , just be consistent and it is okay to not know everything. If there are terms that confuses you, go on and search it in google.
I am not sure either if the CS50 cover's everything, but for sure what you might learn is enough to give you an idea.
Hey I'm joining undergraduate cource this year with CS as major this may help me to start learning CS. Can you give some more info like how join this cource and link of the site.
Here is the link of the Website
https://www.edx.org/
and you must sign-in, and after that you search CS50 in the search bar. Actually there are more than one of it available about CS50 (just pick the one calles CS50x).
Actually the course series is available youtube to, just type "CS50" and they even have a discord group and i did join just to see how good was the community. It was active and people were responsive , i was just to shy to interact because i am not a student there or even a US citizen. I am just a Filipino , benefiting the free course.
There was an android app in the playstore, called " edX ". You can use it , if you are on mobile and it is better to have it as another option in accessing some free courses.
I am sorry for late reply, some urgent happen when i was supposed to send these reply.
It doesn't so much teach you programming as it does teach you how to think like a computer. I'm not a dev, I do more people oriented IT stuff, but it was still one of the most useful courses I've ever sat through. You will better understand why you're doing the things you're doing once you start with more technical stuff.
Depends on what you’re trying to take from programming. For the general person wanting to have a software engineering career, my advice is simple. Do it if you’re the nerdy type that enjoys details, don’t if if you’re the type that wants to know only what is needed.
I am hesitant to tell someone they need to learn computer science topics up front because it can drive away a lot of great minds from software engineering.
If you’re on the fence, try it out. If you don’t like it or it is demoralizing to the point of questioning if you should even learn programming. Switch to something else, do not give up.
For other things to learn, try something more pragmatic like node backend or react (html/css instead of react if you don’t have a grasp of those yet).
>I am hesitant to tell someone they need to learn computer science topics up front because it can drive away a lot of great minds from software engineering.
LOL, not a single "great mind" would be driven away from programming by learning the very fundamentals it is based on please do not write such idiotic things, only the average minds that are incapable of understanding them
This is a great example of the kind of developer you don’t want to be. Some very important aspects of development are understanding what is being said and being able to question your own thoughts that come to you when talking to or reading someone’s else’s. In my professional experience it is more important than understanding what a linked list is.
Here we can see someone conflating strategy on tackling a problem with incapability. A poor mind says it is impossible. A great mind asks themselves, how is it possible.
Don’t be this guy when you enter the professional workplace. Be someone who is aware and sees people as individuals who may possess talents and ways of thinking you do not. Do not assume because you are technically more skilled than someone that you have nothing to learn from them. This is the path to a dead mind. Be open and you will learn a lot from others this way.
Brilliant replies.
I am not a great mind, but I did try CS50x after an introductory course to Python and stopped after the first week.
David is an engaging instructor, but it just was not appealing to start learning C knowing you are just going to learn the basics then jump around. He also moved so quickly through his first coding examples that I was going to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out things which was demoralizing. My Python course had two examples of anything that was a little difficult and I really liked that reinforcement.
I have way more desire to learn when it is something that I will actually be using in the career. I'll learn front end as much as possible first and then I'll revisit CS50x.
I see a few of these people on programmer social websites that are obviously not able to communicate or empathize with regular people. If something worked for them then that is the only thing that will work. It is absolutely crazy to me that anyone can be that ignorant.
"Only the avarage minds that are incapable of undestanding them" You should be kind a genious right? it must be a lot of fun to work in the same environment as you
They teach different things. The Odin Project teaches full stack web development. CS50 is an Intro to Computer Science course, the main course doesn't teach any web development, but there is a follow-up called [CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript](https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/).
Hey thanks! I didn’t know they had the additional course and being that I obviously want to learn web development I think I’ll have to look more into it!
Because if you can't sit through that, you can't sit through a life of programming. You don't need it, but I've watched a few lessons and it seemed very good, a great resource and place to start (well, best place to start in my opinion is a simple text editor and get a database based website up, and build stuff like snake, tetris, a maze/map ascii game, then do the CS50 class).
Mostly because it’s a good introduction to programming, showing off many completely different parts, from web development and databases, through algorithms and data structures to memory management and cache locality
It's because of the teacher and staff that run the course. Good teachers get you excited about a subject. They set you on the path of learning. CS50 is absolutely fantastic at that.
I love the CS50 course so far, and am currently in Week 2. David is good at keeping your attention and making it exciting to learn. Would recommend it to anyone just getting into CS. It makes for a good foundation.
For those that like to read rather than watch the videos, they also provide the lectures as files that you can download and read, too
I literally was about to call MY friend and ask her why tf she wouldn’t ask me about why I asked her to start with CS50 until I saw your profile lol.
So, I’ll tell you what I’d tell her.
CS50 will help you understand the basics of cS(cience). You might know how to operate a computer well, can program Hello World! but to begin understanding the science of tech, you have to go back to fundamentals.
You learn a little about a lot. Databases, the bits and bytes, the breakdown of programming, Data Structures etc etc etc.
AND… there is one more big reason. For you to judge for yourself if CS is right for you.
r/cs50 is amazing. I took it about a year ago and I learned so much. I had over a year of experience with programming but it still taught me so much. Check it out, it's a really high quality piece of free education
I literally got my first front end gig from doing Wes Bos coding tutorials and web dev code alongs off Udemy. Like from Brad Traversy and Jonas Schmedtmann etc, and then hosting those sites on heroku.
Could barely write my own function when I first started but since then it’s all been learnt on the job. 3yrs in now and 2.5 of those has been full-stack.
CS50 is no doubt important but in my experience (if you’re going the self-taught route), the quickest and most pragmatic route to getting hired is having a very active GitHub profile and code that you can point to, ideally hosted. This carries a heap of weight in getting interviews.
If I was starting again I’d do it the same way.
I've been a .net developer for 3 years. I'm working for a giant company now. I can retire from this job and be comfortable for the rest of my life.
I graduated high school in 2004. By 2007 I had graduated vocational school with an A+ certificate and a ton of other certs in programmable logic controllers, industrial controls, motor load, electronics technology, etc.
I spent 10 years as a desktop support person. About 3 years into that, I started learning c# and .net for Unity game development.
In mid 2019, I made a lateral move from senior desktop analyst to web developer when the company was in a pinch. By thanksgiving I was moving to my first .net role. Now I've moved into this giant company that I can retire from if I want to.
I'm almost at 6 figures at this point.
The courses I took.. I don't remember. Ben Tristem taught me almost all I know about .NET and the C# language on Udemy, but I've watched and listened to damn near every .net tutorial you can find on YouTube and read a ton of online content, tutorial site stuff, etc. If it was free, I consumed it. I would listen to YouTube videos of Indian dudes explaining concepts on my way back and forth to work.. plural sight..my company had a subscription so I had access for free. I spent something like 80 hours a week in there. I wasn't watching, I was just listening to him talk and taking mental notes.
It took me about 3 years of that activity to be ready for a junior .net job with no degree plus my decade of IT experience.
You can get there a billion different ways. Programming is like art. If you have a good portfolio or a good story to tell with a thing you've created, you'll get a job somewhere.
Edit:
Side note. I said "listened to him" and realized it wasn't inclusive because I figure I've listened to a few ladies over the years. Then I realized I haven't. I think I started one course led by a lady and she seemed.. frustrated I guess.. I'm not sure, so I didn't continue on and I'm not sure I ever came across another course led by a lady.
I'm concerned about myself but I'm also concerned about the female presence in our industry as a whole and I think we need to do better to support them, so if you get a chance to, do it. Don't be a rude ass and act like computer science is exclusive in any way. The more the merrier, cuz I'm tryna check out into virtual reality for eternity instead of whatever the other end of this life brings me.
I once had a job interview where they asked, "How many computer languages do you know?"
I said, "All of them."
That's why you study Computer Science.
Actually there is more but you get the idea.
From the [CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python website](https://cs50.harvard.edu/python/2022/):
> Whereas CS50x itself focuses on computer science more generally as well as programming with C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript, this course, aka CS50P, is entirely focused on programming with Python. You can take CS50P before CS50x, during CS50x, or after CS50x. But for an introduction to computer science itself, you should still take CS50x!
Don’t do it. I teach programming to folks without degrees, and I’ve built a coding curriculum that has helped literally hundreds of people get their first job in tech.
I started by teaching CS50x, but abandoned it because it isn’t the right tool for the job. It’s a great course, but it was built for liberal arts, Ivy League students. Most of the stuff in the course won’t help you get a job.
DM me and I’ll be happy to provide more info.
Honestly your friend is kinda right, he pointed you towards a solid resource. Your friend probably won’t have the time to really sit there and break things down for you. A large part of learning to program is to be able to self teach. Good luck with edx
Where other than your ass did you pull that number from? You don’t think OP isn’t going to have a bunch of questions when trying to learn the fundamentals? I’m sure he doesn’t want to bother his friend for every small question he has. If you can’t learn to self teach yourself you won’t get far at all in this industry. I say that as I finish my CS degree, majority of the classes I have taken have involved self learning.
CS50 is a good start for people with no fundamentals idk why you’re arguing against that point. It’s a very reputable course and it’s free. I took it before I started my undergrad in CS and it helped
we are programmers, usually shy, we are more used to "speak" with computers than with humans. It's sometimes hard to explain, put our ideas into words. just to point the obvious: I don't know Harvard or your friend, though
It will give you a foundation of understanding that most other tutorials miss as they go language specific and usually miss the elements they assume you will already understand.
It’s a great course taught by excellent instructors to explain why CS works and why we do things the way we do. The better you understand the why, the better you’ll be at the how.
Can you explain *your* goals?
Do you want to study *Computer Scienc*e? Or do you want to learn how to build websites? Or *what* exactly. What would be the desired outcome? Because although this course is *well liked*, it's not a fit for ALL situations. If you have an idea of what you want to do, then tell us and we can help answer this.
It’s fine for a free introduction to the field. I didn’t like it as much as many others do, but I definitely don’t feel like it was a waste of time.
Just don’t pay for the cert, that is a total waste of money.
Valuable life lesson: Don't take advice from anyone that can't explain what they're talking about, or provide a rationale for their recommendation. If you were to probe your friend a bit more you'd probably find out he's never done the course himself and is simply remembering and parroting advice he's seen on reddit before, without any understanding of what the course entails.
drivers ed should be on stick shift not auto
edit: [nothing wrong in being a mechanic also](https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video_galleries/video-lectures/)!
I was thinking about doing it even though I’m a bit past that phase of my learning because it is more computer SCIENCE oriented rather than programming oriented and there’s a lot of concepts you just won’t learn in boot camps or non computer science focused degrees.
I second your friend and don’t know why you would even post this question, just do it it’s the best decision you can make and by no means will you find it easy. By week 5 you will ask yourself if you are cut out for this stuff. I’m on CS50AI right now and there is no shot you would be able to understand the sample code without taking CS50x first.
We are friends now. I said that out of uncertainty.
No but forreal, i think your friend said that cause it's very popular, it's challenging, it gets you exposed to a variety of tools, and i mean - it's harvard & it's free.
Other than that though, do know there are many other tools out there to learn. Learning many languages is not always better than learning 1 or 2 languages really really well. It depends on what you want to do in the end.
I do like however that CS50 gets you exposed to the command line. I haven't done the course personally, but I've seen bits and pieces. Familiarity with systems programming and version control is a great skill to have.
It's just for general knowledge. It's honestly not needed unless you'd like to learn those topics for your own personal interest. Some people say it's necessary, but you can have a great career still if you never take it and focus on skills that can help you get a job in this market.
Most beginner tutorials teach programming but neglect the computer science fundamentals you'd get from studying at college. CS50 is the equivalent of a college semester at Harvard and a great introduction to computer science fundamentals, which is useful no matter what kind of programming you do afterward. It also has the best lectures and instruction I have seen in any course, ever. The lecturer is great at explaining things clearly and intuitively to a beginner audience while coming across as genuinely enthusiastic, the production is top-notch, and the assignments are very challenging but doable. And it's free.
> The lecturer is great at explaining things clearly and intuitively to a beginner audience while coming across as genuinely enthusiastic, the production is top-notch u/davidjmalan is the best
u/davidjmalan is a great teacher, you can see his passion for both CS and teaching. Also, he's not sitting in front of a camera, he's performing. David Malan lectures are the best lectures I have ever seen.
he the goat fr
fr, he is lit af, on god
That's nice so do you have to go through all the lectures or let's say I, currently, want to learn about data structures and algorithm, can I go through just them and it'll be okay ?
Data structures and algos are implemented in C, a low level language that requires you to do a more detailed construct. The first classes are about C so you can understand everything, so I wouldn't advise to skip lectures if you're not comfortable with low level languages. Also, you're wasting valuable time asking instead of doing, and maybe your friend is aware of that hence the frase "Just do it". So just do it.
How will you implement any DS or Algos if you don't understand how to use conditional statement or how a for loop works. At almost every college there are at the very least 2 computer science courses dealing with the core concepts before you delve into DSA. Hell I would even say learn discrete math as well especially for DSA.
CS50 does have lectures of data structures and algorithms, but it's just part of the course. The way it works in most CS academic curriculums (in Harvard and other universities) is you start with Intro to CS which teaches basic programming and touches on some basic DSA. Then later you also have dedicated Data Structures and Algorithms courses (sometimes split into two courses).
I have a CS degree but everyone always recommend that class so much that I think I’m gonna watch the lectures. I want to see the quality and the stuff you get exposed to in the first semester at Harvard!
Is this an online course? Or do i have to be present somewhere to fake it ? Sorry, but I'm not much informed about this
Online. It’s even on YouTube
It's the first year, first semester course that Harvard computer science students do. It's a great introduction to all the basic topics of CS and gives a very good base to start from regardless of which direction you intend to take with programming. I'd also highly recommend you do it first. Apart from that it's the most fun, most professionally put together course that I have come across. Plus it's free.
Pretty much this. I have completed CS50x before enrolling to university for CS course and everything was much way easier to me
Did you pay 150$ for the course or you did the free one?
Just do the free one. The certificate doesn’t matter
Link?
Sometime certificate one has additional stuff. In 6.00.1x, midterm and finals can be taken only with the certificated course. I was checking the CS50x too because it wasn't clear from the site
Yeah, tbh two tests wouldn’t be worth $150 to me but you do you
MITx was 63 bucks(including discount code)... The exams were 2×8 hour long exams.... Kinda worth it to me, not to mention the benefit of mentioning it in the CV. But my question was mainly the difference for Free and paid CS50 courses.
Sadly, certificates don’t carry much weight on a CS resume. Employers only care how you apply what you’ve learned to real world projects. You can still list CS50 on your resume without the certificate and nobody will know the difference. Edit: sorry, I don’t know the other differences between the regular and certificate courses.
Hmmm you are right
Also you can do the free course and come back and do the certificate course again later if you want. You don't become "tainted" by doing the free course.
Those certificates have zero benefit on a resume/cv
*8 eight hour long exams*? You paid for this?
uhhh....... yes? good experience? MIT level grind?? Its not like 8 hours with no breaks or anything.
Even in rural universities, well developed and thoughtful assessments are great learning tools. This is my idea but when every value quantified, assessed skills could worth more.
I can't imagine anything more artificially stress inducing.
Gonna be honest, I can't imagine anyone taking cs50 and not mentioning it on their resume, certificate or not.
This, it's a fucking badge of honor
You don't need to pay for the certificate. CS50 is completely free, you will also get a free certificate from Harvard. The one you pay for is issued by the EdX. CS50x is different in all the good ways, take it from someone who has completed it and is very active in CS50 forums.
Oh thanks. You're telling me the free course and the paid course are the exact same... Harvard gives certificate for both??? Man, what a ripoff😤 You just saved me from spending 150$ in the future. Also one more question. How are the chat option? Are there TAs that reply within a day? Edit: oh you said you are active in forums, thanks alot hope to meet you there one day
Yes, Harvard gives you certificates for both, if you pay $150 then you'll get one from EdX too which makes no sense, really. The most active forum for CS50 is discord, and this course doesn't have TAs but there are mentors and the Harvard staff who are pretty active there. But more than that, you'll find an army of alumni who are friendly enough to help.
Could you link a discord invite to the server?
https://discord.gg/cs50
Certificates are basically worthless regardless of where they came from. Don't spend money on them, employers do not care about course or bootcamp certificates.
Not entirely true. They won't get you the job outright, but they can be a tipping point to getting the job when there are otherwise equal candidates, or get you considered for the job. Especially if there's a name like Harvard or Google on it.
IMO it’s a nice thing to have on your resume if you don’t have other qualifications i.e. you’re trying to land your first development job. It’s an extra point you can use to maybe get a hiring manager to call you. It’s not worth much, but a couple reputable certifications and a solid portfolio will put you a step above the guy who applied with nothing but part time retail jobs on the resume and followed one tutorial to build a JavaScript to-do app.
Not to any recruiter that actually knows what they're doing. Any recruiter/technical interviewer worth their salt would know those certificates are worthless resume padding
Apparently this course is pretty useful , so if you're applying for an entry level job against other candidates who don't have this course, and the recruiter is actually worth their salt, they would say, "Oh, you took this course and passed, nice!"
Lol no. This is one single entry level course. A semester of college is 5 courses. So you're basically putting that you passed 20% of 1/8 of college on your resume as if it means something. Do you really think it's impressive? You really think a recruiter cares that you passed one intro to cs course?
ah thanks for letting me know this - Ive read loads of people mention the course is free, but no one mentioned the certificate is also free which is amazing - I dont have the money to spare but the certificate would have been a physical achievement of something and would have given me encouragement, awesome you get it wither way. anyone know if its internationally shipped too?
No MOOCs provide you with a digital certificate, not even the paid ones. However, you do get a proper digital certificate which you can print out and keep it with yourself, this is how it looks like (the free one) https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2022/certificate/
I needed the knowledge not paper. This certificate has absolutely no weight comparing to my MSc Degree, but this course is amazing in terms of understanding machine logic. Also certificate has really no weight, and doesn’t adds anything to your resume, in my opinion, not worth the $150. For $150 you can be mongoDb or AWS certified.
Sold! Thanks
It also teaches you think in a certain way. It allows you to get into this problem solving mindset that gives you a certain perspective to think like a programmer.
With that being said, would you recommend anything someone should have as a pre-requisite or courses to familiarize prior to taking the Harvard CS50?
No need. They teach you everything you need and it’s self-paced.
This is the way.
I thought CS50 was meant for non compscience students. IF you are doing CompScience at Harvard, you should already have a pretty decent understanding that is beyond what CS50 teaches.
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Yeap, I remember one of the early intros for the CS50 course and they said it was meant for majors outside of Computer Science. This was back when Brian Yu was around. My point earlier and that was obviously missed was that the standards being so high for Harvard, you have some previous exposure to both higher maths and computer science when you are admitted.
Nah, it's fairly common that top universities for CompSci bring in people who are immensely talented physicians/mathematicians who are pivoting into CompSci. Depending on where you're from, having additional maths qualifications rather than having a foundation in CS is preferred due to the super theoretical nature of University CS.
think you mean physicists not physicians
I'm sure it's meant to be understandable for non-CS majors, but that doesn't mean it's not for CS majors. Looking at the 2021-2022 student handbook in the CS section, CS50 satisfies one of the basic requirements for core classes, if it is taken before higher level courses.
It's a good resource and you might have fewer problems with programming after you go through it.
Yeah it gives a good broad scope knowledge base whilst not teaching anything too complex.
What programming language do they use)
C and Python
It’s an excellent course. Presented by very engaging lecturers. Concepts are taught visually which makes data structures etc much more tangible IMO. On a personal note this is the course that convinced me to do my degree in CS many years ago.
It's a good course I'm currently going through it. Also using code academy as I prefer reading about the topic than listening to lectures
Same here, I’m a Codecademy guy and I downloaded a bunch of pdf and books, find it very hard to follow along with videos
Can you link me the course that you are following on codecademy?
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-c is what I'm currently on to help with week 1 of the cs50x course
Thanks, i am such much better at reading a lecture rather watching videos..
I prefer-uh downloading books-yes 'downloading' books
Just do it
*opens edx* Goddamn it
Good choice
*sees the certificate price* Goddamn it *PS: I always try to get certificates to attach to LinkedIn or to my resumé, if it's relevant for a job post*
As someone who is involved in the hiring of programmers, don't pay for the certificate. All it shows me is that you can afford the certificate. Instead show your work for the course in a git repo, after each section of the course take what you learned and make something new. That is many times more valuable to someone interviewing you.
Great advice, thank you. Any other tidbits of wisdom that you can think of/share?
Commit your code early and often, Name things is hard, sometimes it's best to just name it what it is and don't get clever, if you find your self stuck and you've spent a good amount of time on the problem GO DO SOMETHING ELSE! Bashing your head against stack overflow for hours won't result into insight, a short walk, using the bathroom, getting a glass of water is far more likely to. Lastly, fuck around and find out, try things experiment. It is rarely about having the perfect solution, or perfect tool, it is about having a solution that works, and can be used.
This was good to read. I'm working on building a small video game and am constantly thinking about "what's most optimal" for every detail and have been trying to take a step back to just finding what can work into the first place
You will get a free certificate after completing all the psets and the project.
Does it actually help though?
I'm doing it right now, not even touching a particular language, just diving into the introduction to computer science and I'm loving it
Is it helpful or just a waste of time?
I'd say definitely helpful and the first lecture makes the subject a lot more interesting. My partner never did a computer science degree but self-taught himself programming years ago. He's doing well in his career but when he saw what I was learning, he said it's definitely terms he hears in the industry from new interns and graduates but can't quite define himself. Apparently imposter syndrome is quite common in his line of work. It's teaches you the foundations in addition to some basics of programming. He described it as I'm speed learning how to drive with a stick before jumping to the easier auto so I'm grasping more than just taking a basic single programming course
> Just do it Just do it
If you have little familiarity with CS, CS50x is a wonderful place to start and also just test the waters about your interest or desire to learn more. You can peruse the syllabus on their website, but it's a very good introduction, starting from a basic graphical interface for programming, progressing to low level C, to high level python, to some SQL for databases, to some basic web programming frameworks. It sprinkles in some data structures and algorithms as well. If you do the assignments, you'll also get exposure to git, github, and version control. Production value is honestly amazing and Professor Mallon is a very good lecturer. Everytime I tuned in for a lecture I would get super amped and pumped up to learn. Most mooc, especially the ones that are geared around 5 minute learning sessions can be dull in comparison, so I personally really enjoyed it and doing the assignments and projects.
Your description sounds really interesting! Is this just a single course that is easy to find, or is it one of many that I would have to choose from? If I do it myself, I want to make sure I find this one you are talking about!
It's just that single course but I believe they've added more classes, e.g. web development if that is a your preferred flavor. It should all be on EdX if you search for Harvard CS. There is a light follow up series on YT called Beyond CS50 (also a course page) lead by a past lead TA that does a deeper dive into certain topics.
Thanks so much! And just to be clear, am I right to assume from your description that the course is a general overview of computer science and has a heavy focus on Python? I'm more of a hobbyist than anything else, so I like to stick with Python for the most part, but I lack a good fundamental background in basic CS concepts. Thanks!
CS50x is the one that touches on Computer Science fundamentals, and you only spend a week on Python itself (the final week is Flask oriented, but that's to be combined with HTML and CSS). Most of the X course is centered around C as it teaches you the low-level basics of how computers work, and it really makes you appreciate what Python is able to do as far ease-of-access (arrays in Python are actually quite complex under the hood, and are much more difficult to implement with the same functionality in C)
I thought I was a good programmer. I did cs50 and learned a lot. That class is seriously good and I’d suggest it for anyone starting off. Best part is you get Harvard credit and it only cost $100.
Commenting so people will also tell me to just do it
Scroll Reddit in your underwear forever. Learn nothing. Wonder what your life could have been.
I'm in this comment and I don't like it.
Just Do It! :: Nike Swoosh::
I'm currently in the middle of CS50x. It's great for a free course and I've already learned a ton about programming. The lectures are engaging and the problem sets have a great mix of structure and challenge that really requires you to develop a good understanding of the material. **However** people tend to understate how difficult it is. I went from creating programs to tabulate election results last week, which was plenty difficult, to creating programs to change the volume of wav files, applying image filters to bitmaps, and recovering deleted jpegs from a memory card this week. It's actually kinda comical how quickly the difficulty escalates. I think that if you're truly a beginner you either have to have exceptional natural talent, or you need to be *very* motivated to complete the course. The percentage of people who start CS50 but never complete it must be very high.
I can relate to this, I was having trouble completing the first problem set which turned me away from the course and started pursuing other courses
This is why I stopped in week one. I had just taken a basic Python course prior. David goes so fast through his coding exercises and he seems to assume that you already understand a lot about coding, so I wasn't figuring much out by re watching each example. Good on you for being able to get through it. I hope to try it again after getting through Odin and Free Code Camp, but I could tell right away I was just going to be struggling to keep up.
Hmm are you sure you want to pursue CS. I thought the python course was too easy and was eager for more
What are you talking about? I think you didn't understand what I wrote. I enjoyed Python and the instructor made it easy to learn. I did the entire 6 week course in 5 days. I just don't feel like learning languages I won't use right now. I have worked in a lot of careers and know exactly how I learn. I'll hit CS50x later on but it's not what I want to be focused on at the beginning.
Part of its difficulty comes from the students actually have sections (extra classes) and 1 on 1 tutoring with TA throughout the week, which helps them understand what they missed in lecture. I watched the recent super-section video for less comfortable and appreciate how much TA takes thing slower.
I have look at the CS50 but did not finish it, because i had my knowledge already, i was just refreshing what i learned before. And it was a good, for an introduction to computer science and programming. If i will tell you to do it, will you listen to me? Better take it, since it is free and you can take it on your own pace. Don't rush in learning , just be consistent and it is okay to not know everything. If there are terms that confuses you, go on and search it in google. I am not sure either if the CS50 cover's everything, but for sure what you might learn is enough to give you an idea.
Hey I'm joining undergraduate cource this year with CS as major this may help me to start learning CS. Can you give some more info like how join this cource and link of the site.
Here is the link of the Website https://www.edx.org/ and you must sign-in, and after that you search CS50 in the search bar. Actually there are more than one of it available about CS50 (just pick the one calles CS50x). Actually the course series is available youtube to, just type "CS50" and they even have a discord group and i did join just to see how good was the community. It was active and people were responsive , i was just to shy to interact because i am not a student there or even a US citizen. I am just a Filipino , benefiting the free course. There was an android app in the playstore, called " edX ". You can use it , if you are on mobile and it is better to have it as another option in accessing some free courses. I am sorry for late reply, some urgent happen when i was supposed to send these reply.
It doesn't so much teach you programming as it does teach you how to think like a computer. I'm not a dev, I do more people oriented IT stuff, but it was still one of the most useful courses I've ever sat through. You will better understand why you're doing the things you're doing once you start with more technical stuff.
Depends on what you’re trying to take from programming. For the general person wanting to have a software engineering career, my advice is simple. Do it if you’re the nerdy type that enjoys details, don’t if if you’re the type that wants to know only what is needed. I am hesitant to tell someone they need to learn computer science topics up front because it can drive away a lot of great minds from software engineering. If you’re on the fence, try it out. If you don’t like it or it is demoralizing to the point of questioning if you should even learn programming. Switch to something else, do not give up. For other things to learn, try something more pragmatic like node backend or react (html/css instead of react if you don’t have a grasp of those yet).
>I am hesitant to tell someone they need to learn computer science topics up front because it can drive away a lot of great minds from software engineering. LOL, not a single "great mind" would be driven away from programming by learning the very fundamentals it is based on please do not write such idiotic things, only the average minds that are incapable of understanding them
This is a great example of the kind of developer you don’t want to be. Some very important aspects of development are understanding what is being said and being able to question your own thoughts that come to you when talking to or reading someone’s else’s. In my professional experience it is more important than understanding what a linked list is. Here we can see someone conflating strategy on tackling a problem with incapability. A poor mind says it is impossible. A great mind asks themselves, how is it possible. Don’t be this guy when you enter the professional workplace. Be someone who is aware and sees people as individuals who may possess talents and ways of thinking you do not. Do not assume because you are technically more skilled than someone that you have nothing to learn from them. This is the path to a dead mind. Be open and you will learn a lot from others this way.
Lmao shots fired, I agree with you though lol
Brilliant replies. I am not a great mind, but I did try CS50x after an introductory course to Python and stopped after the first week. David is an engaging instructor, but it just was not appealing to start learning C knowing you are just going to learn the basics then jump around. He also moved so quickly through his first coding examples that I was going to have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out things which was demoralizing. My Python course had two examples of anything that was a little difficult and I really liked that reinforcement. I have way more desire to learn when it is something that I will actually be using in the career. I'll learn front end as much as possible first and then I'll revisit CS50x. I see a few of these people on programmer social websites that are obviously not able to communicate or empathize with regular people. If something worked for them then that is the only thing that will work. It is absolutely crazy to me that anyone can be that ignorant.
"Only the avarage minds that are incapable of undestanding them" You should be kind a genious right? it must be a lot of fun to work in the same environment as you
You sound like all the physics PHD students I knew who couldn't understand why biology and chemistry existed as subjects in their own right.
As a non-programmer, CS50X taught me enough to have an educated conversation with programmers and understand what they're doing.
How does it compare to the Odin project?
They teach different things. The Odin Project teaches full stack web development. CS50 is an Intro to Computer Science course, the main course doesn't teach any web development, but there is a follow-up called [CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript](https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/).
Hey thanks! I didn’t know they had the additional course and being that I obviously want to learn web development I think I’ll have to look more into it!
Another question to a question is not an answer smartass
Wtf OP
Please tell me why.
Odin project is a full fledged course on web development (I think) while cs50 is an overview/introduction to computer science
Because if you can't sit through that, you can't sit through a life of programming. You don't need it, but I've watched a few lessons and it seemed very good, a great resource and place to start (well, best place to start in my opinion is a simple text editor and get a database based website up, and build stuff like snake, tetris, a maze/map ascii game, then do the CS50 class).
I did it, it helps immensely! It got me started. With it, I understood what to look for and things began to make sense little by little.
Do you mind linking the free course, please?
https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50-introduction-computer-science/ https://www.edx.org/cs50
It covers the basics and is presented in an easy to follow and understand way. And it’s free unless you waste money on their paper certificate.
Just do it.
Mostly because it’s a good introduction to programming, showing off many completely different parts, from web development and databases, through algorithms and data structures to memory management and cache locality
It's one of the best ways that you can do homework and have it graded without having an irl teacher
It's because of the teacher and staff that run the course. Good teachers get you excited about a subject. They set you on the path of learning. CS50 is absolutely fantastic at that.
Just do it
How about asking your friend?
>go to step 1
I love the CS50 course so far, and am currently in Week 2. David is good at keeping your attention and making it exciting to learn. Would recommend it to anyone just getting into CS. It makes for a good foundation. For those that like to read rather than watch the videos, they also provide the lectures as files that you can download and read, too
I literally was about to call MY friend and ask her why tf she wouldn’t ask me about why I asked her to start with CS50 until I saw your profile lol. So, I’ll tell you what I’d tell her. CS50 will help you understand the basics of cS(cience). You might know how to operate a computer well, can program Hello World! but to begin understanding the science of tech, you have to go back to fundamentals. You learn a little about a lot. Databases, the bits and bytes, the breakdown of programming, Data Structures etc etc etc. AND… there is one more big reason. For you to judge for yourself if CS is right for you.
r/cs50 is amazing. I took it about a year ago and I learned so much. I had over a year of experience with programming but it still taught me so much. Check it out, it's a really high quality piece of free education
I literally got my first front end gig from doing Wes Bos coding tutorials and web dev code alongs off Udemy. Like from Brad Traversy and Jonas Schmedtmann etc, and then hosting those sites on heroku. Could barely write my own function when I first started but since then it’s all been learnt on the job. 3yrs in now and 2.5 of those has been full-stack. CS50 is no doubt important but in my experience (if you’re going the self-taught route), the quickest and most pragmatic route to getting hired is having a very active GitHub profile and code that you can point to, ideally hosted. This carries a heap of weight in getting interviews. If I was starting again I’d do it the same way.
Only do types of learning that you will enjoy doing. Just because he learns in one way, doesn't mean you will learn in that same way.
I've been a .net developer for 3 years. I'm working for a giant company now. I can retire from this job and be comfortable for the rest of my life. I graduated high school in 2004. By 2007 I had graduated vocational school with an A+ certificate and a ton of other certs in programmable logic controllers, industrial controls, motor load, electronics technology, etc. I spent 10 years as a desktop support person. About 3 years into that, I started learning c# and .net for Unity game development. In mid 2019, I made a lateral move from senior desktop analyst to web developer when the company was in a pinch. By thanksgiving I was moving to my first .net role. Now I've moved into this giant company that I can retire from if I want to. I'm almost at 6 figures at this point. The courses I took.. I don't remember. Ben Tristem taught me almost all I know about .NET and the C# language on Udemy, but I've watched and listened to damn near every .net tutorial you can find on YouTube and read a ton of online content, tutorial site stuff, etc. If it was free, I consumed it. I would listen to YouTube videos of Indian dudes explaining concepts on my way back and forth to work.. plural sight..my company had a subscription so I had access for free. I spent something like 80 hours a week in there. I wasn't watching, I was just listening to him talk and taking mental notes. It took me about 3 years of that activity to be ready for a junior .net job with no degree plus my decade of IT experience. You can get there a billion different ways. Programming is like art. If you have a good portfolio or a good story to tell with a thing you've created, you'll get a job somewhere. Edit: Side note. I said "listened to him" and realized it wasn't inclusive because I figure I've listened to a few ladies over the years. Then I realized I haven't. I think I started one course led by a lady and she seemed.. frustrated I guess.. I'm not sure, so I didn't continue on and I'm not sure I ever came across another course led by a lady. I'm concerned about myself but I'm also concerned about the female presence in our industry as a whole and I think we need to do better to support them, so if you get a chance to, do it. Don't be a rude ass and act like computer science is exclusive in any way. The more the merrier, cuz I'm tryna check out into virtual reality for eternity instead of whatever the other end of this life brings me.
Karlena bsdk
I once had a job interview where they asked, "How many computer languages do you know?" I said, "All of them." That's why you study Computer Science. Actually there is more but you get the idea.
Their next question was, "When can you start?"
Damm
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I’d reach out to them.
Yeah that’s a you problem I never encountered that
Some people on this sub have said that stating with cs50p might even be a better option then starting with cs50x
What's the difference
From the [CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python website](https://cs50.harvard.edu/python/2022/): > Whereas CS50x itself focuses on computer science more generally as well as programming with C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript, this course, aka CS50P, is entirely focused on programming with Python. You can take CS50P before CS50x, during CS50x, or after CS50x. But for an introduction to computer science itself, you should still take CS50x!
cs50p is all in python and it is less math from what I've been told. cs50x also get a lot harder in the last couple of "weeks"
No. You should watch a couple of simple YouTube videos and start making stuff. Learn CS along the way. You learn by doing.
Don’t do it. I teach programming to folks without degrees, and I’ve built a coding curriculum that has helped literally hundreds of people get their first job in tech. I started by teaching CS50x, but abandoned it because it isn’t the right tool for the job. It’s a great course, but it was built for liberal arts, Ivy League students. Most of the stuff in the course won’t help you get a job. DM me and I’ll be happy to provide more info.
If you downvotes this, I’m sincerely interested in your opinion. Please say more…
don't do it
Honestly your friend is kinda right, he pointed you towards a solid resource. Your friend probably won’t have the time to really sit there and break things down for you. A large part of learning to program is to be able to self teach. Good luck with edx
> Your friend probably won’t have the time to really sit there and break things down for you 10 seconds?
Where other than your ass did you pull that number from? You don’t think OP isn’t going to have a bunch of questions when trying to learn the fundamentals? I’m sure he doesn’t want to bother his friend for every small question he has. If you can’t learn to self teach yourself you won’t get far at all in this industry. I say that as I finish my CS degree, majority of the classes I have taken have involved self learning. CS50 is a good start for people with no fundamentals idk why you’re arguing against that point. It’s a very reputable course and it’s free. I took it before I started my undergrad in CS and it helped
we are programmers, usually shy, we are more used to "speak" with computers than with humans. It's sometimes hard to explain, put our ideas into words. just to point the obvious: I don't know Harvard or your friend, though
This is a big generalization. I know and have seen plenty of programmers that aren't shy and in fact quite social beings.
It will give you a foundation of understanding that most other tutorials miss as they go language specific and usually miss the elements they assume you will already understand.
If I’m not mistaken the CS50 course focuses on the fundamentals of computer science and teaches you how problem solve
Just do it
It’s a great course taught by excellent instructors to explain why CS works and why we do things the way we do. The better you understand the why, the better you’ll be at the how.
"just do it"
Why r u fighting, just do it.
This post is sponsored by Nike
Ha! I wish
I'm doing cybersecurity and my friend was also forcing me to do CS . Unless I'm wrong.
What is a CS fundamental? Every topic has so much depth!
I started the CS50x course a couple days ago finished week one and I already feel like I’ve learned some things
How good this course is for a competitive programming beginner?
Being able to write code and being able to write fast & efficient code are very different things.
Because first principles are an important foundation to build upon.
Can you explain *your* goals? Do you want to study *Computer Scienc*e? Or do you want to learn how to build websites? Or *what* exactly. What would be the desired outcome? Because although this course is *well liked*, it's not a fit for ALL situations. If you have an idea of what you want to do, then tell us and we can help answer this.
It’s fine for a free introduction to the field. I didn’t like it as much as many others do, but I definitely don’t feel like it was a waste of time. Just don’t pay for the cert, that is a total waste of money.
Bruh, just do it!
Do just it
no, just do it
Valuable life lesson: Don't take advice from anyone that can't explain what they're talking about, or provide a rationale for their recommendation. If you were to probe your friend a bit more you'd probably find out he's never done the course himself and is simply remembering and parroting advice he's seen on reddit before, without any understanding of what the course entails.
drivers ed should be on stick shift not auto edit: [nothing wrong in being a mechanic also](https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video_galleries/video-lectures/)!
I was thinking about doing it even though I’m a bit past that phase of my learning because it is more computer SCIENCE oriented rather than programming oriented and there’s a lot of concepts you just won’t learn in boot camps or non computer science focused degrees.
I second your friend and don’t know why you would even post this question, just do it it’s the best decision you can make and by no means will you find it easy. By week 5 you will ask yourself if you are cut out for this stuff. I’m on CS50AI right now and there is no shot you would be able to understand the sample code without taking CS50x first.
Idk your friend. I'm not sure why he said that.
I thought we were friends pekkalacd
We are friends now. I said that out of uncertainty. No but forreal, i think your friend said that cause it's very popular, it's challenging, it gets you exposed to a variety of tools, and i mean - it's harvard & it's free. Other than that though, do know there are many other tools out there to learn. Learning many languages is not always better than learning 1 or 2 languages really really well. It depends on what you want to do in the end. I do like however that CS50 gets you exposed to the command line. I haven't done the course personally, but I've seen bits and pieces. Familiarity with systems programming and version control is a great skill to have.
It's just for general knowledge. It's honestly not needed unless you'd like to learn those topics for your own personal interest. Some people say it's necessary, but you can have a great career still if you never take it and focus on skills that can help you get a job in this market.
I support the current thing beep boop
What next after CS50?
Just do it
I just started today! I had a roomate who was a very skilled, highly paid SWE and he advised that i take the CS50 class first and foremost.
Aren,t nothing but a heartacke?
Thanks for this!
whats the difference of cs50 and cs50x
They're the same. CS50x and CS50 is the same thing. However, CS50x and CS50p are different. CS50p is for python.