My Honest Review of Harvard’s CS50x: Tips, Guidelines & Free Certificate

In May 2024, after 3 months of hard work, I finally completed the Harvard CS50X course. Finally, I finished the whole journey and got a free certificate from Harvard. It was one of the best courses I have ever taken. Here is my certificate,

As you are here, I can assume that you know something about CS50x. It is Harvard University’s Introduction to Programming course that teaches you the basics of the programming world. I see a lot of misconceptions out there that I had before starting. I will try to give a comprehensive overview and general guidelines to help you understand CS50x fully. In the end, you can get a free certificate from Harvard, just like me. Let’s start

Overview:

So what is CS50? Harvard says,

This is CS50, Harvard University’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming, for concentrators and non-concentrators alike, with or without prior programming experience.

The course consists of 11 weeks(parts) of learning materials and in each part, you are given a problem set that you need to complete by yourself without the help of AI or any other method. In the last 11th week, you have to submit a final project that you need to complete with your creativity.

One specialty of CS50 is its instructor David Malan, and the supportive CS50 team. You will fall in love with the teaching style of David Malan. His presentation and teaching were wonderful. I don’t have any complaints about the teachings of this course.

The 11weeks:

Below is a thorough overview of all the weeks. feel free to skip. How to ace these sections is given later in this blog

1. **Week 0 Scratch:
   **in this section, You will learn some introductory concepts of computer science, such as Computational thinking, Problem-solving, Binary, ASCII, Uniconde, algorithms, etc.
   David will show you some thinking about the fundamentals of programming through a baby language called Scratch. As a challenge, you have to submit your own Scratch Project. It is fun TBH.

2. **Week 1 C:
   **You will write actual programs in this section. You will learn how to program in C. This includes fundamentals of a programming language such as conditionals, loops, variables, data types, basic terminal commands. Malan will dive into some deep concepts like integer overflow and truncation.
   Here the Problems to complete are Mario, cash, and credit.
   mario and cash are simple but credit is tricky.

3. **Week 2 Arrays:
   **You will learn Processing and Compiling steps, debugging, and crucial programming concepts like Arrays and Strings. You will make two programs ‘greet.c’ and ‘touppercase’ in class
   The problems are Scrabble and Readability. Note that Readability is tough. Also, You have to submit one of these projects,
   Caesar(comparatively easy) and Substitution(difficult++).

4. Week 3 Algorithms:
   In the class, you will be taught Asymptotic Notation to calculate algorithmic efficiency. The video shows the search operations and sorts like Linear search, binary search, bubble sort, merge sort, and selection sort. A beautiful concept of programming which is recursion is also shown here.
   you are to complete Sort and Plurality compulsorily. the optional are Runoff and Tideman. you need to complete any one of the two. My advice is to complete Runoff as it is easier. Tideman is one of the hardest problems you will ever encounter in your life.

5. Week 4 Memory:
   In this week, Malan teaches how memory works. Pointers, malloc, free, and basic memory execution like heap and stack are covered here. you will also learn about memory leaks, garbage values, and File I/O operations.
   As problem, you have to submit Volume, Recover, and any one version of filters. I submitted both of the filter problems.

6. Week 5 Data Structures:
   You will learn some Basics of Data Structures. concepts like Queues, Stacks, Heaps, Linked lists, Search Trees, Hash tables and Tries are covered here
   The problems are Speller and Inheritance which are comparatively simpler than the previous ones. If you have made it this far, I am sure you have the capability to complete the whole journey.

7. Week 6 Python:
   You will apply the previous programming language concepts but in a much easier language Python.
   The problem sets are easy. In fact, you are actually rewriting your previous pset solutions in Python. Note that you may find the DNA problem a little bit tricky.

8. Week 6.5 Artificial Intelligence:
   You will learn How the modern AI takes decisions and works behind them. Some basics of Prompt engineering, machine learning, deep learning and Generative AI are discussed here.
   No problem sets here.

9. Week 7 SQL:
   Let’s dive deep into the world of relational databases. You will be taught the basics of sqlite3 database and the concepts like tables, rows, indexes, functions, and injection attacks, etc.
   If you have focused on the topics in the video then the problem set is too easy for you to solve. The problems are Songs, Movies and FiftyVille.
   I just love the FiftyVille. I believe you will love it too.

10. Week 8 HTML, CSS and JavaScript:
    The basic web concepts are discussed in the video such as how the internet works, TCP, IP, HTTP etc. Then you will learn the building blocks of a website which are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You will only get a brief understanding of these technologies.
    You have to submit the solutions of two problems which are Trivia and Homepage. you have to make custom websites using HTML, CSS and Javascript to solve this

11. Week 9 Flask:
    Flask is a library built on top of Python to make a website dynamic. The video covers topics like Flask, Route, Requests, Responses, Sessions, Cookies and shows basic Jinja syntax.
    You have to solve two problems Birthdays and Finance by making two dynamic websites using flask and jinja. The Finance is a difficult problem but fun.

12. Week 10 Cybersecurity:
    The basics of Cybersecurity are covered in the video and this one doesn’t have any cybersecurity-related problems to complete. All you have to complete a final project to complete the whole course. You can take the help of AI over here but your project needs to be unique. To make the project you can choose whatever you want to make and whatever technologies you would like to choose.

Is CS50 for me?

Although Cs50 can benefit most people, there are certain things you should consider before starting. otherwise, you may feel disappointed or may not finish the course and waste time.

CS50 is definitely for you if,

1. **You have never coded before:
   **Although a little bit of coding experience will save a lot of time, If you haven’t ever coded before, you should start with CS50. If you can complete it until the end, you can become unstoppable. Note that most beginners don’t finish the course because it seems too hard.

2. **You want to have a Comprehensive understanding of the Programming world:
   **Whether You are an employee, a creative worker, or a college student, CS50 will help you build a good understanding of the programming world. You may find a way to go in your career. Just like me.
   I was a frontend developer, mostly working on frontend and building good-looking UIs. After completing CS50, I started to move towards the backend.

3. you want to increase your problem-solving skills:
   CS50 has a huge set of problems to solve. In each week, the problems get tougher and more interesting. I am sure if you want to increase your problem-solving skills along with learning the overview of the programming world CS50 is definitely a way to go.

4. Seeking a recognized Credential:
   Getting Harvard’s certificate is a fantastic thing to achieve in your life. Think about it this way,
   If you were HR and choosing to recruit two candidates in a single position, The one who had completed CS50 before will always come in a handy position in your list. Although other factors count as well.

CS50 is not for you if,

1. **You want to get an expert in a field:
   **This is an important point. From my own experience, I can say that CS50x is not a course that makes you specialized in a certain field. be it web development, mobile, or backend development. It only gives you a basic overview of the tech world. You gain a vast knowledge of the programming world. then your task is to pick a field and learn more about it. CS50 has its own Python or Web courses as well. you can check them.

2. You want a job ASAP:
   I want to give you this crucial message. As I said earlier CS50x is not a specialized course, that doesn’t make you an expert or gives you a thorough knowledge of a certain field. For this, Your knowledge is not that much complete. It is a common misconception that I find in the community. If you want a job As early as possible then look for some other complete courses or learning paths. CS50 has courses like Python, R, or Web. you can check them. but without an exception getting a job with only CS50x is tough. You can DM me on Twitter so that I can help you with this.
   NOTE: CS50’s certificate may help you to get shortlisted forthe interview

3. You Don’t Have Time to Commit:
   When I was starting I thought I would finish this course Within 1month by working tremendously hard.
   Keep in mind that CS50 is a hard course and this is a speciality of it. It requires time to complete. Sometimes you may have to rewatch the lectures to understand the concepts. At least 2 months of dedicated work is required to complete it. Ngl It took me 3 months to complete CS50. Time commitment is necessary.

4. Other factors:
   You have a busy schedule or You are a programmer and don’t want to learn low-level language like C deeply.
   Maybe you are already in a learning process of something and constantly something is in your mind that is calling about CS50. First complete the learning then you can come to CS50 anytime.

My guidelines:

As I already completed the course, I am giving you some tips and guidelines to complete the CS50. I wish I had known some of these tips earlier. I believe it will help you in the process.

We chose CS50 not because its easy, but because its hard.

1. Keep in mind: It’s not easy
   One thing is to remind you if you are a beginner and have no prior knowledge in Programming, CS50 is a HARD course to complete. I was lucky that I had a background in learning JavaScript whose concepts helped me a lot. Things may eventually become difficult and you may get frustrated. But don’t worry it's not just you. We've all been there and we've overcome it.

2. **Complete the course from CS50’s own website
   **You can complete the whole course from EDX for free but I think completing it from CS50’s website is much more straightforward. It’s absolutely your choice.

3. Challenge yourself
   One of the reasons it took me 3 months to complete CS50x is that I have completed virtually all the psets including the optional ones. I threw a challenge to myself to complete all the problem tasks. This also enhanced my knowledge. I would suggest you at least give it a try to complete all the psets regardless of optional or required.

4. Take Notes:
   You must take notes of each important topic covered in the lecture so that you may not get back to rewatch the whole video to understand the concept once again.
   CS50 videos are somewhat complex. Sometimes you have to rewatch the video. If you take notes then you might not rewatch the video and just go through the notes only. this is helpful. I took notes on notion. If you want them then DM me on Twitter. I will share them with you.

5. Don’t skip Lloyed’s explanations:
   After each week’s David’s lesson, to make you more understand the topics there are some extra videos given. Doug Lloyd is the presenter and he tries to give an overview about the topics with some examples. My suggestion is that don’t skip those.

6. Don’t get stuck into an optional problem:
   It is necessary to complete the mandatory problem sets but some problems will kill a lot of time. especially the “more comfortable ones” . **This is one of the mistakes I have made. I was stuck for weeks to complete just a single problem. Don’t do that. Sometimes skipping I a wise option.
   Here is a tip: don’t submit the optional ones that seem too tough. Just Google the solution and try to understand what was the mistake. and **note that: don’t submit that solution.

7. Tideman is tough!!
   In Week 3’s Pset, you have to submit one of Runoff and Tideman. **Tideman is TOO TOUGH. I repeat TOO TOUGH.
   **I was stubborn and tried and stuck for almost 17 days. This problem’s solution is done with recursion. Then I had to move on. If you feel that this is tough(obviously it is), just move on. complete the Runoff and move on. I wish someone had told me this before.

8. Take legal help from discord
   CS50’s discord community is very helpful. just take help from the server if you are stuck or have some query. but note that you shouldn’t share your full solution. That’s illegal.
   the link: CS50 Discord

9. Be honest
   CS50 has an academic honesty policy. It is absolutely illegal to copy code from other sources and submit the solution as if it were written by yours. The CS50 team may disqualify your certificate for this.
   Also, You are here to learn. Why be dishonest over here?

10. Final Project Submission Tips:
    You should take time and submit the final project with love and creativity as if you are creating your own tech product. Think deeply about it and make a cool-looking project.
    TIP: every other pset except the final project can be done through CS50.dev . You should create your final project in your local environment. Also, you have to push the final project and create a long 750 words of readme.md file and record a video about it.
    Then submit it. but here you may face challenges. I had to submit manually for this.

Get Certificate

on cs50.me, you have to log in with GitHub and you can see your grade book. after completing each required psets and the final project you will be eligible to get a free certificate from Harvard. It’s yours!

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this. I hope you will get your certificate from Harvard. But this is not about the certificate. It’s about learning the valuable knowledge from the best instructors. you will love the whole journey.

Thanks for reading, this was all from my end. I hope you found some insightful things in this article. If you are facing any other challenges or have some more queries, Feel free to DM me on Twitter: Shihab Haque
cover-page credit: freecodecamp