Is CS50 worth it in 2024? Course Overview

Wondering if CS50 is worth it and value of the course is? In this article, I will cover what you will learn on cs50. (Follow to 𝕏) 

Briefly about CS50 introduction to computer science

Well-known Harvard course taught by Professor David J. Malan, volunteers, and staff. His dynamic teaching style and emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking make CS50 one of the most popular and influential introductory computer science courses. It covers a wide range of topics, including algorithms, data structures, web development, and more, providing a strong foundation from the ground up.

Prerequisites

Beginner

Even if it's an introduction course to computer science and programming, it might be tricky to complete this course without any experience before. But if you are committed, love hardship, and struggle with hard tasks, you can take it initially. Otherwise, the level of the problem-solving tasks and lecture material information increases gradually. To get used to pace you can try CS50’s Introduction To Programming With Python.

There are several reasons why you can return after completing that course:

1. Learn fundamental programming concepts much smoother to transfer them into cs50x
2. Get used to Python syntax and it's features which helps you on week 6
3. The mindset how to take CS50 courses.

Experienced

If you are coming from CS50P or have some programming background, you can easily take this course. The course is designed to build on prior knowledge, making it accessible to those with some programming experience.

Course structure

How to take it?

To take this course you must register through edx and enroll there (important). There will be a verified certificate upgrade option, but you can ignore it. The course is 100% free, after submitting the final project you will be notified to take your free certificate. Instructions and additional information are here.

Lectures

12 Very interesting lectures usually last about on average 2 hours. You can break them up into shorter sessions, but make sure you maintain full focus throughout. If David is writing code, pay close attention to that section repeat his code in the environment provided by CS50, and try to understand what is going on line by line.

Sections

Sections are important to watch after the main lecture. This is where a lot of the harder material gets broken down into more manageable pieces. These sessions are taught by Carter Zenke and Yuliia Zhukovets. By attending these sections, you'll get a better grasp of the challenging concepts and be able to follow along more easily in the main lectures. Take your time to watch them.

Shorts

Shorts are important too, with usually 1 to 6 shorts per week, taught by Doug Lloyd. He dive into more in-depth technical concepts, especially during the first weeks. These shorts complement the main lectures and help reinforce your understanding of lecture topics.

Problem sets

After the theoretical materials, you'll engage in real programming using CS50 Codespaces in your browser, or you can install VSCode and set up your environment there. You will learn how to use essential commands of Linux like cd, mv, mkdir....

There will be additional Walkthroughs with Brian Yu who also teaches CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript. He makes an introduction to the current problem and potential ways to solve it.

Less comfortable

There are two versions of each problem set: the "less comfortable" (normal) tasks and the "more comfortable" tasks. The less comfortable tasks are easier and more suited for beginners. After solving and submitting these, you can challenge yourself with a more comfortable version. The approach to solving these advanced tasks will be similar to what you did for the normal tasks, but they will push your understanding of the topic and skills further.

More comfortable

Upgraded and harder tasks are built on top of normal tasks, interesting things start here. You will need to have patience and some willpower to stand out of difficulty. I spent 2 days on average to complete these hard tasks. For example famous Tideman on a problem set 3 took me to accomplish 1 week of tryharding.

I had a lot of discussion how things works with ddb

Additional Practice

Additional problems are available to help you refine your skills before actual problem sets. These additional activities are designed to expand your understanding and give you additional opportunities to practice what you've learned.

Seminars

Once you have completed all of the problem sets, optional seminars are available. In these seminars, you'll learn about local development, including how to use Git and GitHub. These sessions are designed to deepen your hands-on skills and improve your ability to effectively manage and collaborate on code projects.

Final Project

The final project is the culmination of everything that you learned throughout the course. It's an opportunity to showcase your skills and creativity by developing a project of your choosing. You can explore a topic you're interested in, like web development, AI, data science, or something else. The final project helps you understand more and is useful for your portfolio.

Is CS50 worth it?

My opinion

If you want to learn programming and become a software engineer, this course is a great place to start your journey from scratch. It is very interactive and dynamic, preparing you well for fields like web development, AI, and data science, which you can further explore through additional CS50 courses.

Additional routes

If you decide to start web development, you can try the Odin Project or FreeCodeCamp, but it's important to choose one and stick with it. Additionally, you might consider more in-depth courses on platforms like Coursera or Udemy.

Conclusion

CS50 is an excellent introduction to computer science, covering the fundamentals needed for web development, AI, and data science. You'll learn through a combination of lectures, problem sets, seminars, and a final project. It's ideal for beginners as well as those with some programming experience. Thanks for reading, and good luck with the course!