The latest articles on DEV Community by Sammantha (@slyalchemist). https://dev.to/slyalchemist https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F2158780%2F7cd1a14b-a33a-49c1-b3df-f5c77e219869.png https://dev.to/slyalchemist en Sammantha Sun, 02 Feb 2025 06:23:20 +0000 https://dev.to/slyalchemist/my-first-week-learning-from-cs50x-and-cs50p-10fg https://dev.to/slyalchemist/my-first-week-learning-from-cs50x-and-cs50p-10fg <p>Just under a week ago, I revamped my web dev journey by taking up CS50x (<a href="https://www.edx.org/learn/computer-science/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-computer-science" rel="noopener noreferrer">Harvard's Intro to Computer Science</a>) and CS50P (<a href="https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50s-introduction-programming-python" rel="noopener noreferrer">Introduction to Programming with Python</a>) and what a blast in the past it's been. </p> <p>Some years ago I took a similar course to CS50x when I had first gone to university (only to change my major a few times but that's for another day), and I'd never touched Python before so I wasn't prepared for just how frustrating it would be to switch between Scratch, C, and Python, but it has been incredibly refreshing. </p> <p>Here's a recap of my first week:</p> <h2> What I Learned So Far </h2> <p><strong>CS50x</strong>: I completed week 0 and week 1 - Scratch is particularly frustrating and tedious when you're already familiar with programming but I could see it as a useful tool for those brand new. I also revisited C and surprisingly, I retained a little bit of knowledge from that first course I took so many years ago. <br> <strong>CS50P</strong>: I also completed week 0 and week 1 - Python is incredibly simple to pick up and I was able to write some scripts pretty easily, but the simplicity of the language trips me up quite heavily with the syntax. <br> <strong>The Biggest Challenge</strong>: Honestly, the biggest challenge turned out to be writing syntax in a way that the CS50 checkers could actually grade my programs. Sometimes thinking outside of the box isn't the best!<br> <strong>The Best Part</strong>: Feeling accomplished - both in remembering how to use a language from long ago and figuring out a new language and seeing it actually run quite well!</p> <h2> What's Next? </h2> <p>I'll be continuing onto week 2 in both programs, and I'll be revisiting The Odin Project. So far, these CS50 courses have been a review in the very basics of programming languages but these are so vital to have a solid grasp on.<br> Soon I'll be diving into more data structures and algorithms, and perhaps dabbling in new technologies and frameworks. Suffice to say, I've still got a lot to learn, but I'm excited to do it. If you’ve taken CS50x or CS50P, what was your biggest takeaway from the first few weeks?</p> programming beginners python learning