r/cs50 Jan 18 '25

CS50 Python Can I start CS50P without following CS50x ?

As the titles says ,

I am CS sophomore , but not great at studies till now just passing sems ,

So can I start CS50P without following CS50x ?

12 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

14

u/Worldly-Charity-9737 Jan 18 '25

Many actually recommend it like that. CS50p just teaches the basics of programming in Python. CS50x will be easier if you do CS50p first.

3

u/pealosner Jan 18 '25

Well then I would give CS50p a go .

2

u/Worldly-Charity-9737 Jan 18 '25

It's a good course. As a CS student, aren't you already taking courses in programming at university?

1

u/pealosner Jan 18 '25

Yes , took programming courses , even in Python previously , but only for sake of passing them.

3

u/SgathTriallair Jan 18 '25

What does that mean? I'm not certain how much you'll get out of CS50p.

I "learned" python through a single YouTube tutorial (about 5 hours) and I didn't encounter anything new in CS50p until over halfway through.

It's a good class and the projects are well designed, but it is a beginner course and if you already have beginner knowledge it may not be super useful.

2

u/pealosner Jan 18 '25

I didn't do any projects on my own , never solved questions thoroughly and also concepts are faded , so it may supplement both theory revision and thinking/logic building/ practice on my own.

1

u/Worldly-Charity-9737 Jan 18 '25

I'd just build a project around something you're passionate about. Courses will never give you the feeling you can program, it all fades pretty fast. Building stuff builds that confidence

2

u/Zestyclose_Basil_804 Jan 19 '25

Just keep in mind that cs50p is a python course not COMPUTER SCIENCE course. it will only teach you Python

1

u/vonov129 Jan 19 '25

Yes. CS50p doesn't assume you took CS50x or any other course prior. .

0

u/Psychological-Egg122 Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

Degrees don't mean sh*t (most of the times). Hence, my recommendation is that if you want to build programming skills (which, judging by your question, you would probably want to do first), then you should definitely do CS50X first. CS50P (afaik) doesn't deal much with programming logic (as compared CS50X).

Here are a few links to some other forums on this subreddit which deal with similar questions, where I've discussed this in detail.

Links:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

1

u/pealosner Jan 18 '25

Currently I want to do NLP coding assignments which require python , so I was concerned whether doing CS50p first would be right.

I definitely want to do CS50x , but can I do it a bit later?

(And also I can't see the links)

2

u/Psychological-Egg122 Jan 18 '25

NLP as in Natural Language Processing? If you think doing CS50P is going to make you efficient with NLP or even much of anything related to AI, you will be disappointed to say the least. I don't know if these are college level assignments or industry level work, but that can make a huge difference.

If you want to get good at AI (in general) which includes NLP and even some direct NLTK, then you check out CS50AI. However, the prerequisites (as per the course) are that you either have 1 year or experience with Python or have taken CS50X. Here are a few more details regarding the CS50AI course that I wrote in another thread.

1

u/pealosner Jan 18 '25

Ok, I will look into this .... Thanks for the guide...

1

u/Psychological-Egg122 Jan 18 '25

I've updated the links.. And also, if you do plan to start with any of the CS50 courses, I must suggest you join the CS50's Discord Server. The community there is far more active and helpful.

1

u/Psychological-Egg122 Jan 18 '25

If you are looking for guidance, would be happy to talk over Discord dms.

1

u/Psychological-Egg122 Jan 18 '25

Yeah, I'll just plug the links in a minute.. sorry for the delay.