Why You SHOULD NOT Take Harvard CS50 in 2024

This video explains Why you SHOULD NOT Take Harvard's CS50 in 2024...

Harvard CS50 Introduction to Computer Science is meant to be a course to learn computer science from scratch as beginners. But it may just be a little too difficult for the average person...

In this video, we'll explore how Harvard's CS50 Introduction to Computer Science course is structured, and how to prepare for taking it. We'll also discuss David Malan and his impact on students of the CS50 course.

You might have questions like:
What is the best free computer science course?
Is Harvard CS50 easy?
What is the Harvard CS50 Mario Problem Set 1 Solution?

Those questions and more about the CS50 course will be explained in this video.

Videos I and took inspiration from and/or used clips from in this video:

Icons and graphics I used:

[CSMadeEasy]

Some people seem to be misunderstanding the point of this video, I 100% agree that it's an amazing course, I'm simply pointing out there are quicker/easier courses to take if your sole objective is getting a job FAST. It's still the best course for 90% of beginners that want a solid foundation in programming. 

[Dondlo]

Avoiding difficulty isn't the option, if you really want to learn programming then beating your head on the wall for weeks and trying to learn something isn't that bad

[chrisbasford]

60 year old engineer here, a few years age I watched cs50 on iTunes and did the homework in c#. Great course, great instructor. I learned a lot.

[gardenvariety-]

I am in week 2. I understand your points, but it is awesome for someone who knows zero in programming to learn a little of everything before moving in depth into one subject like python. It is free! From Harvard!

[VinkkieZ]

OMG. I was thinking I was so stupid for needing at least 8 hours each week and almost gave up due to feeling incompetent. It's encouraging to hear that I'm not the only one struggling. After 3 weeks in, I adapted my strategy and take the course at my own pace instead of forcing myself to finish one class in each week.

[elvisrv]

Planning career transition. Excellent course, finished cs50x, almost finishing cs50p. Next up will be cs50w. David Malan is an amazing and engaging Professor.

[Techni_Log]

Totally agree with you. I started CS50 in Febuary and I am now at week 7. I tend to average about "1 Week" per month haha. I really thought it was so difficult at times that I questioned if coding really was something for me. But then I googled around and saw that a lot of people felt the same way. It's just a very difficult course but it's a very good one. Even if you progress at a snail pace as me!

[knightsljx]

You don't have to take it to learn from CS50. I finished CS50P but not CS50x itself. BUT I've gone through all the lectures of CS50x and CS50AI, and I learnt a lot from just the lectures. So don't get turned off by the difficult tutorial problems, just watch the lectures, they are fantastic

[kubataiupov]

I am learning programming even after graduation from a bootcamp. I realize that there are tons of things to learn and one of them is the basics of programming. This course is amazing as you mentioned and all points you stated in this video are true and relevant. Being a father and a husband 40 years old, doing that is not an easy thing. First, I just watched the lectures till week 6 without working on problem sets and assignments. Even that helped me a lot to enhance my knowledge. After some time I decided to work on the assignments too, and it gives me a hard time. Thanks for your videos, they help me stay motivated and clarify some difficult parts.

[avarmauk]

CS50 is definitely challenging and I agree that they give you very little info in the lectures and later expect you to do something 5-10x the difficulty. But the truth is if you break down the problems step by step, use additional learning resources and utilise the source codes provided in the supersections. Then it is doable and is in line with the reality of self teaching. Remember once you graduate high school you are on your own, its up to you how much. you learn or don't learn, its up to you how resourceful you are willing to be. It's not for everyone, and I understand people are different and have different circumstances.

If you get stuck with no way out. There are some youtube videos to guide you, just refrain from peeking at the code (you're only cheating yourself tbh), but they can walk you through the logic and reasoning about how to go about solving the problem.

So don't fear it, just ensure you have sufficient time to complete the work. Each "week" for me took around 2-3 weeks on average and that with some serious time commitment. If you're not able to commit sufficient time, then yes I would seek other courses.

But this is a great video embracing the reality of the challenges of the course, but that doesn't mean it isn''t a great course. Jut worth treading lightly before diving in.

[bass_]

I finished CS50 in around 6 weeks. But I had already experience in C++, Powershell and a little bit Assembly. The course definitely offers a great overview of different fields. Some problems sets were quite easy while some others were not.
I believe it helps a lot to have at least some experience in any programing language.

[SCRKT]

I really like your Solution videos because I'm always on that point of having the right concept on my mind - but because this is my first ever introduction to programming I really don't know how to properly implement the solution I have on my mind into code.

By watching your solution videos and explaining how they work, I'm slowly able to grasp how the functions work. Appreciate it a lot!

[armando]

Bad take, cs50's actually taught in a pretty simple manner, and it's good that the psets are hard because you will be challenged, it will take some time, but you will learn a ton!

[sambelitz]

I would really appreciate more PSET explanation videos--for whatever reason I like how you explain them better than any others--you've got a knack for explanation! (Still stuck on Credit)

[Toffi-Fay]

Most insightful! I’m currently working on the first problem set of week 1 (the llama equation) and you’re not wrong about being thrown into the void with only 1+1=2. My goal is web development and this video really helped rearrange my way of going about learning it. Thank you very much!

[mauricioartco]

Hi Rahul, I really need your help with an CS50 exercise that you have not explained, it is Week 1 credit, I have seen 3 people solving that exercise but I do not know why I cant get their explanation, I just dont want to copy and paste the code, I need to understand the logic behind that problem, I would appreciate your help. Thanks in advance

[iezwgmt]

hit the nail on the head with the mario problem set. thank you for this video!

[bones]

Thank you so much for this video, it’s good to know I am not alone in my struggles and that it is normal too take so long in the problem sets. I felt the jump you speak of from week 0 to 1 and it made me take a break, but I’m back and ready to persevere through them! Watching this video gave me a much needed boost in motivation.

[abhijoshi]

Hey! Some really great points here. I am on week #4, and I did have to watch week #2 twice. And yes, the homework, labs, and problem sets are much harder than sitting through the video and following David, but that's the part of it. As someone who doesn't have any background in tech, it's a great course. I think it's great to know a little bit of everything when you're starting off before you dive deeper, and CS50 does give you that.
But the biggest takeaway of your video, which I wholeheartedly agree with is that "IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE". One shouldn't go in expecting that you'll sit through videos, do some homework, and get the certificate. They make you work for it, and I am sure the final project will get me to shed some tears, but I am ready for it!
I am reading in some reddit posts, and various video comments that it's tough and discouraging at times..and that's all true but that's not the case with everyone. I've had moments when I've looked in the mirror after a lab or practice set and thought "Okay, I am bad at this. I know nothing." and I think personal motivation, and drive is a big part of it. I am someone who pushes a "pull" door all the time, and if I can do it, anyone can. It's a matter of pushing yourself and taking the challenge head-on.

[danielkarcz]

I am at week3 now, I did all the practice problems, labs and pset without bigger problems so far, but I got stuck on Tideman for 7 days now as I just can't comperhand the locked_pair function even after I saw the different syntaxes of it. So I am just skipping it and moving to week4. What do you think about the Tideman? Are you planning to the video on it?