Harvard CS 50

Looking to learn the basics of programming before I graduate and was wondering if anybody has taken this course or has gone through the material on the site:

http://cs50.tv

"Computer Science 50 (otherwise known as CS50) is Harvard College's introductory course for majors and non-majors alike, a one-semester amalgam of courses generally known as CS1 and CS2 taught mostly in C.

Even if you are not a student at Harvard, you are welcome to "take" this course via cs50.tv by following along via the Internet. (The course's own website is at www.cs50.net.) Available at left are videos of lectures, sections (aka "recitations" or "precepts"), and seminars along with PDFs of all handouts. Also available at left are the course's problem sets and quizzes. If you have questions or would like to discuss the material with others, do join the course's Google Group. The problem sets do assume that you have access to cloud.cs50.net (a cluster of servers on which Harvard students have accounts), but not to worry! You can instead use the CS50 Appliance, a downloadable virtual machine (for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows)."

I've done some BASIC and made some simple 3D games way back in middle school but I've forgotten just about everything useful. Anyone have experience with this? Any other suggestions?

8 Comments
 

This thing is legit. As an HBS student, it's one of VERY few courses I can take across the river at Harvard College and still get credit towards my graduation requirements.

 
redninjaThis thing is legit. As an HBS student, it's one of VERY few courses I can take across the river at Harvard College and still get credit towards my graduation requirements.
Thanks for the verification. Also, do you know if credit is granted to those who participate? I'm thinking not, but doesn't hurt to ask....
Get busy living
 

I did these in highschool. They are very good. The only issue is that you only learn through practice and without someone forcing you to code you'll have to be disciplined enough to write out a lot of stupid programs on your own.

 
couchyI did these in highschool. They are very good. The only issue is that you only learn through practice and without someone forcing you to code you'll have to be disciplined enough to write out a lot of stupid programs on your own.

Writing out a lot of stupid programs on your own is the only way to learn.

You're not going to magically hit a golf ball straight the first time you swing Bertha.

 

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Get busy living

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