Harvard Cs50 Course, are the courses worth it? (Complete guides with course details)
By: Mahmuda Afreen / Read more about us.
Even if one has done their graduation and post-graduation from business or arts, there is no harm but loads of benefits of learning modern soft technologies. For these, CS50 courses offered by Harvard and instructed by some highly talented and experts instructor of this institution, one will get into another level of knowledge.
Moreover, those individual courses covering a different areas of Computer Science are well organized. One will learn and can implement those in real life for their personal benefits as well as organizational benefits.
Including extremely basic which is Understanding the Technology, one can learn Programming from Scratch. In the core courses, they offer Programming with Python, CS for Lawyers, and professional Business. In the advance or follow-up courses, we will have AI, web development, and game development.
Furthermore, one will have an intense discussion below which I have written out of my personal experience on the courses.
Harvard Cs50 Course
Imagine the world ten years back, now, and after ten years. What are the changes that clicked your mind the most? Technology, right? If we think about the scenario of the world’s past, present, and future, we can realize how fast technology is growing and how impactful it is. Mainly, the department of computer science and things related to this are intense.
We can feel the presence of this science in almost every sector of our life. Whether we are working in a bank as an accountant or preparing a serious case in the law farm or even in the operation theater we will have to take help from this specific field.
The modern world is so much driving the computer science field such as programming, web, AI, Gaming, and so on. In every profession, basic knowledge of using these tools can improvise their professional life. For example, a lawyer can develop and maintain a website according to his or her law farm including all the necessary information. So that the clients can find useful information before contacting them. Also, they can use different case study software to make their work easier.
Sometimes people who graduated in Business want to pursue their career in web or android development. They feel more interested in technology than business. In that stage of life getting another 3 to 4 years of degree is quite hard. However, different introductions or basic online or offline courses can help them with their plans. Such as the Harvard CS50 Courses with an organized syllabus and focused area.
It is not an unknown fact that Harvard is one of the best educational institutes in the world. According to Times Higher Education, this university ranked 2nd worldwide and 1st nationally. Moreover, the faculties of this institute get highly appreciated for their contribution to world education, research, and discoveries. So, one can predict how wonderful, organized, and helpful it will be.
Starting from the root, Harvard introduced the first virtual office hour for CS50 back in 2007 and they launched it in Edx in 2012 which is an online learning platform. David J Malan, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He is one of the most enthusiastic and amazing faculty of this department with a broad vision for the future of the students.
According to ACM digital library, he is one of the most resourceful people with vast of useful research, citation, and whatnot. After launching this course, it becomes the biggest course at Harvard University with more than 800 classroom students and thousands of online students.
One of the best things about this course is, that it is open to people of all age groups, educational statuses, and regions. One can be enrolled in almost every course for free and can learn through different platforms like Edx and YouTube. Also, they can earn a certificate after passing the exams and use it in their resume and LinkedIn profile to create their portfolio to look more professional. Moreover, let’s know about this extraordinary opportunity in detail and in-depth. After reading the whole discussion, one will know all the pros and cons as well as they can decide whether it will be a good idea to take the course. We will be discussing and illustrating in the depth all the courses out on our personal experiences.
Recently, this career-changing opportunity has 10 different courses of different levels. One can enroll in any of those at any time. There is no requirement that one has to go through this or pass that course to go to that level. It is completely the choice of the students or the learners. However, they divided those courses into three different categories. Now, we will be learning about courses A to Z.
Basic Courses
The authorities or the responsible bodies of CS50 are the most talented person. So, when they are organizing something they think of things that we cannot. Out of their concern, they have organized all the courses in categories. The basic courses are the first category and are for the very beginning. For learners who are not from Computer Science (CS) background and are feeling a little less confident, these courses are best for them. They can get prepared for the core and advanced courses at this level.
Understanding Technology
As stated in the official course, this is for those who do not yet consider themselves ready for core learning. It will help them understand the basics of technology from the beginning. It will make them understand the technology they use every single day but never realized it. Completing this course will make them confident for the next steps and make them interested to learn more. Specifically, they will learn,
1. Hardware
What is the use of the internet, software, apps, and everything untouchable if there is no hardware? Before going deep into the technology one needs to understand every hardware involved like RAM, Hard Disk, CPU, and others that are covered by this class.
2. Internet
Almost one-hour discussion covers all the details of the internet. From home network breakdown to IP, DNS, and end with watching a demo of Home Router.
3. Multimedia
He starts the class with digital audio and how it works in the digital world. After that, he turned to RGB, and graphics and explain every digital operation on an image a beginner should know. He ended the lecture with a digital video and different-quality performance in it.
4. Security
In this technology-based world, the thing which is in constant threat is the privacy of people’s personal data. The dishonest personalities can easily steal data like personal and sensitive information like photos, Bank information, etc. The professor will explain the threat and the measures to take to ensure the highest security on the internet.
5. Web Development
More than 60 minutes long lecture starts by explaining what web development is, also the relation of it with the internet. In the total lecture, he covers HTTP, HTTPS, HTML, Linking, CSS, and google domains. With this lecture, one will have a complete idea of the web, its development, and its use.
6. Programming
He starts by explaining programming with Oscar time and explains a different topic related to programming. Describing pseudocode and C he entered into more deep programming languages. Meantime, he tries to make sense of loops, Functions, conditions, and many more things. Finally, explaining Python and ruby he adds some examples and ends the lecture with an ending thought.
The instructor is none other than our wonderful David J Malan and his awesome personality. With the energetic and active way of teaching with loads of real-life examples, the learners feel excited every single second of their class. He makes the little tiny soul of interest in learning in every student a bigger one. He starts with the basic hardware of a Computer and discusses many things in 2 to 6 hours per week lessons for 6 weeks. Finally, he ends the lectures with the basics of coding so that the students feel interested in the next level.
To complete the whole course one will need 42 days in total and every individual topic will have a different time frame. After completing the lessons one may have to take some assessments to prove that they have successfully completed the course. They will be granted a free certificate after passing the assessment. Also, one can apply for a paid and more verified professional certificate from Edx.
Introduction to Programming with Scratch
The aim of this course is to introduce a new fun programming method that does not involve text. Discovered in MIT’s LAB, one can write code by dragging and placing different graphical blocks which is a kind of puzzle. The prior student can make their own animations, games, interactive art, and stories to make projects and assignments for their study without having deep programming knowledge.
This is one of the most amazing and extraordinary courses of this CS50 project at Harvard. During the session, one will be interacting with Brian Yu, Senior Preceptor in Computer Science, at Harvard University
This course includes lectures of,
1. Introduction
This is one short description of how the system will work and how can one work in making their projects. They can learn to make things like videos from the scratches here.
2. Functions
This lecture will teach different functions of the world-famous open-source programming platform. This is mainly created for children but adults can also enjoy and make the different projects. Here, they will learn how to do following some instructions. Such as, moving the avatar to a different angle and giving some voice.
3. Events
The 3rd lecture of this course is the event where the instructor makes a conversation between two avatars. Using different tools like the flag or clicking on a key in the system he shows how to create something meaningful.
4. Values
Creating values that hold information about the sprites, this lecturer covers timing, walking, and other values to make the project more alive.
5. Conditions
In this 5thlecture, we learned how to program the spirit to take decisions based on an answer to a question. For example, if I make something of an event between two Persons on a day of snowfall, one will ask if it is snowing outside. If the answer is yes, they will take the decision of wearing snowshoes and jackets.
6. Loops
All the work we have done above is just for one event. But the aim of this project is to make a meaningful film or game. Here, Loop is the function we need to make that happen. Using the loop, we do not have to press the flag or the green button again and again to run the program or code. It will repeat the command as we programmed it.
7. Variables
When we make a big program we need to store different information in separate places to use it properly. In that case, we have to use a variable to store all the information to use those in our program. At the end of the course, one can make a complete video or game. The use of Scratch and using graphical blocks for programming is a wonderful way. It will teach the basics of programming to children as well as to adults who are new to this world. They will understand how the logic works inside a code.
The whole course is 2 to 6 hours which will take 3 weeks to end. Meantime, the students will be learning and submitting their works in the portal to prove their learnings. After successfully completing the course they will get a free certificate from Harvard and they can have a certified official certificate from Edx.
Core Courses
The main course or we can say the heart of this CS50 is this core course. Including that there are two more courses. Learners are excited about this part more than others because of the structure. Mainly, the students familiar with computer science choose this area or after completing the basic one, they feel interested to learn more and decided to go through the all opportunities one by one. In this section, we will demonstrate all the main genres in detail.
Introduction to Computer Science
The main instructor of this program is David J Malan. He will teach the basics of CS from scratch to the core. It is suitable for major or non-major as well as with or without prior programming. Since he will cover the topic from an introductory level, everyone will enjoy and can cope with the lessons. After completing all the lectures properly, the students will have,
> A strong knowledge of CS and programming
>They will be able to think about the algorithm and how to write a code for that algorithm.
> Will gain robust concepts in different parts of computer science like data structure, array, numbers, security, and so on.
> Introduced with various languages like C, Python, JavaScript, CSS, and more.
>Finally, they can make projects out of their learnings.
This 11-week long event will cover eleven different topics from basic to intermediate. Moreover, the topics include descriptions, examples, and project-based analysis of real-life implementation. Let’s see what they are offering for their students.
| Topic | Details |
| Scratch | 1. Introduction to computer science 2. Representing numbers 3. Text 4. Images, video, sounds 5. Algorithms 6. Pseudocode 7. Scratch basics 8. Abstraction 9. Conditionals and more 10. Demos |
| Programming Language C | 1. Introduction to C 2. IDEs, Compilers, interfaces 3. Functions, arguments, return values, variables 4. Main, header files, commands 5. Types, format codes, operators 6. Variables, syntactic sugar 7. Calculations 8. Conditionals, Boolean expression 9. Loops, functions 9. Mario 10. Imprecision, overflow. |
| Arrays | 1. Compiling 2. Debugging 3. Memory 4. Arrays 5. Characters 6. Strings 7. Command-line arguments 8. Applications. |
| Algorithm | 1. Searching 2. Big 3. Linear search, binary search 4. Searching with code 5. Structs 6. Sorting 7. Selection sort demonstration 8. Bubble sort demonstration 9. Selection sort 10. Bubble sort 11. Recursion 12. Merge sort |
| Memory | 1. Pixels 2. Hexadecimal 3. Addresses, pointers 4. Strings 5. Pointer arithmetic 6. Compare and copy 7. Memory allocation 8. Valgrind 9. Garbage values 10. Swap 11. Memory layout 12. scanf 13. Files 14. JPEG |
| Data Structure | 1. Recap 2. Linked lists 3. Growing arrays 4. Growing linked lists 5. Implementing linked lists 6. Trees 7. More data structures |
| Python | 1. Python syntax 2. Libraries 3. Input, conditions 4. Meow 5. Mario 6. Documentation 7. Lists, strings 8. Command-line arguments, exit codes 9. Algorithms 10. Files 11. More libraries |
| SQL | 1. Data processing 2. Cleaning 3. Counting 4. Relational databases 5. SQL 6. Tables 7. SQL with Python 8. IMDb 9. Problems |
| HTML, CSS, and JavaScript | 1. The Internet 2. The web 3. HTML 4. CSS 5. JavaScript |
| Flask Web Programming | 1. Flask 2. Forms 3. Layouts 4. POST 5. MVC 6. Frosh IMs 7. Storing data 8. Emails 9. Sessions 10. Store, shows 11. Searching |
| Emoji | 1. The End 2. Tools 3. Quiz Show 4. Emoji |
| Cybersecurity | 1. Passwords 2. Email, private mode 3. Encryption |
I myself am a student of Computer Science and Engineering. I took this course back in 2020 when I already know so much about Computer Science and programming. However, the intense lectures of Dr. Malan have left a great impact on my head. I had learned to see this field with a fresh view. I like how he moves the primary focus from coding to thinking about the structure of each problem. One can truly implement those knowledge-solving problems in real time. Moreover, the readers can watch the instruction to prepare for a technical interview organized by Harvard for the CS50 learners.
This is one of the longest courses with the longest lecture time of 11 weeks and 10 to 20 hours per week.
After completing the lectures and during the time one will have to do a bunch of assignments. After that, they will have to perform a mock test as well as a project to gain a certificate.
Introduction to Programming with Python
The newest, released in April 2020 but the most intense course of the CS50 program is the introductory lessons of Python. We all know that python is one of the most popular and widely used programming languages in recent times. Because of the simplicity and the variation of use, people are now more interested in Python in every sector.
David J Malan will interestingly explain from scratch too deep of this language and how to start with it. Learners will know how to read, write, test, and debug their code by the end of the session. They will learn,
| Lectures | Covered Area |
| Functions and Variables | 1. Introduction 2. Command-line Interface 3. Python Interpreter 4. Functions, Arguments, Side Effects 5. Bugs and Debugging 6. VS Code and IDEs 7. Return Values and Variables 8. Comments and Pseudocode 9. Multiple Function Arguments 10. Named Parameters 11. Escaping Characters 12. f-Strings 13. String Methods 14. Style 15. Split 16. Integers and Operators 17. Type Conversion 18. Floating Point Values 19. Numeric Formatting 20. Division 21. Defining Functions 22. Scope 23. Return Values |
| Conditionals | 1. Introduction 2. Conditionals 3. if 4. elif 5. else 6. or 7. Not Equal 8. Indentation, Colons 9. and 10. Chaining Comparison Operators 11. Bugs 12. Modulo 13. Boolean 14. Pythonic Expressions 15. match |
| Loops | 1. Loops 2. while 3. for 4. Validating Input 5. Iteration with Lists 6. len 7. Dictionaries 8. Lists of Dictionaries 9. Nested Loops 10. Conclusion |
| Exceptions | 1. Exceptions 2. SyntaxError 3. ValueError 4. try, except 5. NameError 6. else 7. Reprompting, break 8. get_int 9. pass 10. Function Arguments |
| Libraries | 1. Libraries 2. Modules 3. import 4. from 5. randint, shuffle 6. statistics 7. Command-line Arguments, sys 8. Slices 9. Packages, PyPI, pip 10. cowsay 11. APIs, requests, JSON 12. Custom Libraries |
| Unit Test | 1. Unit Tests 2. Testing calculator.py 3. assert 4. AssertionError 5. pytest 6. Categories of Tests 7. Testing for Exceptions 8. Side Effects and Testing 9. Collections of Tests |
| File I/O | 1. File I/O 2. lists 3. open 4. with 5. sorted 6. Comma-Separated Values 7. Sort Keys 8. Lambda Functions 9. CSV Library 10. Images, PIL library |
| Regular Expression | 1. Regular Expressions 2. Validation without Regular Expressions 3. re Library 4. Regular Expression Patterns 5. Matching Start and End 6. Sets of Characters 7. Character Classes 8. Flags 9. Groups 10. Email Address Validation 11. match, full match 12. Capturing Groups 13. Walrus Operator 14. Extracting from Strings |
| Object Oriented Programming or OPP | 1. Object-Oriented Programming 2. Tuples 3. Dictionaries 4. Classes and Objects 5. Instance Methods 6. Validating Attributes 7. The String Method 8. Custom Methods 9. Properties, Getters, and Setters 10. Types and Classes 11. Class Methods 12. Inheritance 13. Operator Overloading |
| Et Cetera | 1. set 2. global 3. Constants 4. Type Hints, mypy 5. Docstrings 6. argparse 7. Unpacking 8. map 9. List Comprehensions 10. filter 11. Dictionary Comprehensions 12. enumerate 13. Generators, Iterators, yield |
Quite a long lecture with so much programming, Huh? Well, even if it looks so much, this wonderful course will cover the intermediate level of python. Completing this course the students will be able to successfully code in this language and use it in different projects. Starting with this one can enter with professional python easily.
For lawyers
Specifically designed for Lawyers and Law students, the aim of this course is to implement technology in legal terms. Students can connect the technology with the laws in many ways like data security, cryptography, and using different tools for the case study. Moreover, they will learn Python and SQL by which they can analyze their case data to get logical relations and statements rather than asking randomly.
This amazing course has two instructors, David J. Malan, and Doug Lloyd. Both of them cover different areas of the lectures to provide solid knowledge to the learners.
CS50L is one of the best free courses for lawyers and law students. After completing this, they will have a bunch of technological knowledge against legal problems they will face. Overall, the lectures include
| Lectures | Covered area |
| Challenges at the Intersection of Law and Technology | This class will teach the challenges of instruction laws and the technological tools the lawyers can use to overcome those |
| Computational Thinking | Here they will learn computational thinking, and how the computer works internally. Also, how lawyers can start with technology? |
| Programming Languages | A to Z basic of programming language including compiler, interpreter, and other details of Python with examples. |
| Algorithms, Data Structures | It covers the basic Algorithms as well as different types. Moreover, one will learn the basic level of data structure which will be needed for lawyers. |
| Cryptography | Starting with the definition, the instructor will explain the importance as well as the different types and implementations. |
| Cybersecurity | It starts with basic and entered into the issues one will face and the solution that includes, 1. Hardware 2. Memory 3. Representation of Memory 4. Hexadecimal 5. How Memory Works 6. Hard Drive Failure 7. File Deletion 8. Digital Forensics 9. Deleting Files 10. Protecting Client Data 11. ABA Formal Opinion No. 477R 12. ABA Formal Opinion No. 48 |
Overall, this will take 10 weeks to complete and one will have to put 3 to 6 hours per week to complete it. This time includes all the lectures, assignments, and other tasks.
Computer Science for Business Professionals
The blessings of computer science in Business are one of the brightest areas human beings are experiencing. It completely changes the traditional way of business into a modern, easy, and effective way. Now, companies, individuals, and others keep their records in soft files inside computers rather than on paper. Calculating, and analyzing data become easier and human error-free. Moreover, one can build their personal websites and online profile to promote their business to needy people.
Mainly, this CS50B course will have business managers, decision-makers, officers, and others doing their own small businesses. Mr. Malan will teach them how they can use a different area of CS to make their life easier and their business more profitable. Overall, they will learn
Starting with the basic functionalities of computers the lecturer will put the students in an intermediate level of discussion. The numbers show the computer understands human language to how one can operate everything, he will talk about programming languages including web development, cloud computing, and more. So that one can have their own website to promote their business online.
Moreover, the CS50B will run for 6 weeks. Depending on individual it will take two hours to six hours to complete the course properly. Meantime, students will have to do different assignments and projects provided by the instructor.
Follow Up Courses
Design for the professional, the courses of this category will give a specialized overview of a specific subject. Learners with basic knowledge of Computer Science and programming can enroll in these courses.
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python
Brian Yu. Will give a tour of the world of AI using python on this subject. That means one will have to have knowledge of Python and programming before he or she enrolled in this course. They will learn the foundation of AI in our life. Also, they can implement some cool things in this sector after completing the course.
As we know AI is all about giving a machine the ability to think and act like a human being. The aim is to make the world easier, more robust, and more reliable. Also, using different mechanisms and entities in the world where humans feel endangered. Let’s see what I have learned taking the classes of CS50AI,
| Lectures | Details |
| Introduction | 1. Search 2. Solving Search Problems 3. Depth First Search 4. Breadth-First Search 5. Greedy Best-First Search 6. A* Search 7. Adversarial Search 8. Minimax 9. Alpha-Beta Pruning 10. Depth-Limited Minimax |
| Knowledge | 1. Propositional Logic 2. Inference 3. Knowledge Engineering 4. Inference Rules 5. Resolution 6. First-Order Logic |
| Uncertainty | 1. Propositional Logic 2. Inference 3. Knowledge Engineering 4. Inference Rules 5. Resolution 6. First-Order Logic |
| Optimization | 1. Local Search 2. Hill Climbing 3. Simulated Annealing 4. Linear Programming 5. Constraint Satisfaction 6. Node Consistency 7. Arc Consistency 8. Backtracking Search |
| Learning | 1. Machine Learning 2. Supervised Learning 3. Nearest-Neighbor Classification 4. Perceptron Learning 5. Support Vector Machines 6. Regression 7. Loss Functions 8. Overfitting 9. Regularization 10. scikit-learn 11. Reinforcement Learning 12. Markov Decision Processes 13. Q-learning 14. Unsupervised Learning 15. k-means Clustering |
| Neural Networks | 1. Neural Networks 2. Activation Functions 3. Neural Network Structure 4. Gradient Descent 5. Multilayer Neural Networks 6. Backpropagation 7. Overfitting 8. TensorFlow 9. Computer Vision 10. Image Convolution 11. Convolutional Neural Networks 12. Recurrent Neural Networks |
| Language | 1. Syntax and Semantics 2. Context-Free Grammar 3. nltk 4. n-grams 5. Tokenization 6. Markov Models 7. Bag-of-Words Model 8. Naive Bayes 9. Information Retrieval 10. tf-idf 11. Information Extraction 12. WordNet 13. Word Representation 14. word2vec |
In this overall study period, learners will learn how AI works including the basics. Then they will get introduced to the sub-topic like machine learning and some important algorithm. Meantime they have already gotten the idea of logic, uncertainty, and probability of events. Finally in the core of AI which is I Neural Network, one will learn in-depth AI along with appropriate language to write commands.
Moreover, this is one of the most professional and longest courses which will require 7 weeks. Meanwhile, every student will have to spend 10 to 30 hours depending on their ability to capture difficult logic and topics.
Web Programming with Python and JavaScript
Another amazing opportunity to boost the knowledge of web development and take it to another level. In this CS50W course, one will learn advanced tools and language to design and create more useful with vast data. Also, make it dynamic to increase user experience or UX to the maximum level.
Moreover, a hands-on project will teach APIs writing, create interactive UIs, and leverage cloud services like GitHub and Heroku. This total course is divided into 11 different lectures where one will get each lecture per week. Along with this, the learners will have to do different assignments in each lecture and a project at the end. Throughout the lessons, I have learned,
| Topic | Discussed area |
| HTML and CSS (language) | 1. Web Programming 2. HTML 3. CSS 4. Responsive Design 5. Bootstrap 6. Sass |
| Git (tool) | 1. Git 2. GitHub 3. Commits 4. Merge Conflicts 5. Branching |
| Python (the most advanced language) | 1. Python 2. Variables 3. Formatting Strings 4. Conditions 5. Sequences and Loops 6. Functions 7. Modules 8. Object-Oriented Programming 9. Functional Programming 10. Exceptions |
| Django (Python-based framework) | 1. Web Applications 2. HTTP 3. Django 4. Routes 5. Templates 6. Tasks 7. Forms |
| SQL, Models, and Migrations | 1. SQL 2. Tables 3. SQL Queries 4. Joining Tables 5. Django Models 6. Migrations 7. Shell 8. Django Admin 9. Many-to-Many Relationships 19. Users |
| JavaScript | 1. JavaScript 2. Events 3. Variables 4. QuerySelector 5. DOM Manipulation 6. Intervals 7. Local Storage 8. APIs |
| User Interface or UI | 1. User Interfaces 2. Single Page Applications 3. Scroll 4. Animation 5. React |
| Testing and CI/CID | 1. Testing 2. Assert 3. Unit Testing 4. Django Testing 5. Selenium 6. CI/CD 7. GitHub Actions 8. Docker |
| Scalability and Security | 1. Scalability 2. Scaling 3. Load Balancing 4. Autoscaling 5. Scaling Databases 6. Caching 7. Security 8. HTML 9. HTTPS 10. Databases 11. JavaScript |
Brian Yu will start the lessons by explaining the markup Language HTML and how this creates the bones of a website. After that, he will explain CSS and enter the depth. Git is a tool that we need to use. Then we will be learning Python and its Framework Django for doing some advanced work on websites related to data. For more, SQL, Models, and Migrations are explained in detail.
After doing the main part, now it is time to think about UI and UX where we will need JavaScript to make the website more interactive and user-friendly. He ends the course by teaching and testing the codes and ensuring the security of the data as well as the website.
Overall, it will take 12 weeks to complete the course and one can earn a certificate by completing all the tasks. Moreover, they will need to give 6 to 9 hours for each lecture to complete properly. If there is a project involved, it may take more time. The time of each lecture will be like the CS50 introduction to computer Science or Python.
Mobile App Development with React Native
Another advanced and professional course is offered in the CS50. If one is already learned or passed some of the above courses like CS50 core, CS50P, and CS50W, they will find this course easier and faster to learn. The instructor of this amazing course is Jordan Hayashi, a software engineer.
Starting with the introduction by Mr. Malan along with the importance and high usability, the instructor dived deep into the topic from the basics. He will show how and when to start developing the app. In every lecture of every week, he will teach sequentially to build an app for android or iOS using React and other frameworks. Overall, the learners will learn,
Overall, completing this CS50W course will build the capability to develop a well-organized website. Even if one does not belong to the Computer Science world but in business or any other profession, these skills will help them grow their professional life to another level. So, we can conclude that this is useful for everyone and anyone can take this course. However, they will need some prior knowledge of some language and framework, the rest of the learning is included in the lectures.
Introduction to Game Development
Among all the courses of CS50, this 3D game development introductory part is the most advance and intense one. Developing a game is a huge deal and requires a lot of knowledge, patience, and also enthusiasm in this field. Most of the time, the people of this generation, or we can say the teens highly interested in the game and its development. Also, the CS students feel interested in this area along with their academic studies. Who does not wants to have some cool skills and ability like developing a game?
Amazingly, we organized a course designed and instructed by one of the coolest technologists Colton Ogden. He will make learning easier and more enjoyable in every way. Students will feel this difficult job is a fun project. He stated that this course is suitable for students who already have some programming experience even though they do not have yet tried game programming. Moreover, he will teach the process through hands-on case studies on some popular video games legend of Zelda, Angry Birds, Pokémon, and more.
This is a 12 weeks program and he organized the course in such a way that one can start from the various basics. Every week the lectures will be of different time frames. Moreover, one may have to spend 6 to 9 hours per week or even more doing assignments and learning at home including lecture time. Overall, the timeline of the classes are,
He starts the lecture with the story of how he got into game development and how he becomes a professional. After that, he entered into the main part by introducing LUA which is a scripting language, and other elements that are needed to know for this program. Throughout the course, one will learn,
| Lectures | Details |
| Pong | 1. LUA 2. Love2D 3. Drawing Shapes 4. Drawing Text 5. DeltaTime and Velocity 6. Game State 7. Basic of OPP 8. Box Collision 9. Sound Effects |
| Flappy Bird | 1. Image 2. Infinite Scrolling 3. Games are Illusions 4. Procedural Generation 5. State Machine 6. Mouse Input |
| Breakout | 1. Sprite Sheets 2. Procedural Layouts 3. Managing States 4. Levels 5. Player Health 6. Particle System 7. Collision Detection Revisited 8. Persistent Save Data |
| Match 3 | 1. Anonymous Function 2. Tweening 3. Timers 4. Solving Matches 5. Procedural Grids 6. Sprite art and Palettes |
| Super Mario Bros. | 1. Tile Maps 2. 2D Animation 3. Procedural Level Generation 4. Platformers Physics 5. Basic AI 6. Power-Ups |
| Legend of Zelda | 1. Top Down Perspective 2. Infinite Dungeon Generation 3. Hitboxes 4. Events 5. Screen Scrolling 6. Data-Driven Design |
| Angry Birds | 1. Box2D, the Physics Gaming engine 2. Mouse Input |
| Pokémon | 1. StateStacks 2. Turn-Based Systems 3. GUIs 4. RPG machines |
| Helicopter Game 3D | 1. Unity 2. C# 3. Blender 4. Components 5. Colliders and Triggers 6. Prefabs and Spawning 7. Texture Scrolling 8. Audio |
| Dreadhalls | 1. Texturing 2. Materials and Lightening 3. 3D Maze Generation 4. First Person Controllers 5. Multiple Scenes 6. Fog 7. UI Components and Unity2D |
| Portal | 1. Holding a Weapon 2. Raycasting 3. Texture Masking 4. Decals 5. Teleporting 6. ProBuilder and ProGrids |
| Portal Problems | 1. Intense and in-depth learning of Portal Problems. |
In the first lecture with the context of Pong, you will learn 2D game development with LUA and Love2D framework. The second lecture is one Flappy bird which covers the process of diving into the development a little bit more. In the other 9 long lectures, he covers everything one will need to develop a basic game.
That is the end of this CS50 program for now but some more can come in the future. The world is growing fast so does technology. To match the speed we need to train and taught ourselves so that we do not lag. Since there are no restrictions on taking the courses, one can start with the basics and can learn all the things they have an offering. It will give the learners a vast knowledge of different aspects and then they can choose any of the specific fields they like.
How one can earn a certificate from Harvard CS50 courses?
Getting a Certificate from Harvard for the CS50 courses is easy. Firstly, one will have to choose a course or multiple depending on the person and their learning capabilities. After choosing the course one will have to open an account in Edx for free. In the mentioned time they will have to enroll in the course. Every course is 10 to 13 weeks long.
During this time, the students have to present in the classes and participate in the assignments. For getting a certificate, they will have to properly and successfully complete the course. For that doing all the homework and assignments is necessary. Also, they will have to do a final project and pass with it to get it.
Moreover, Harvard provides a Free certificate which looks like the one in the picture below. However, for a professional certificate, they will need to pay an amount to Edx.
Is it expensive to take the CS50 courses?
Many think that the CS50 course is an expensive one. They have that misconception because some experts from Harvard are the instructor and Harvard is the authority of organizing. Surprisingly, the courses are completely free online. Anyone from anywhere in the world with any type of background can take these courses.
There is no sole restriction for getting enrolled. Moreover, one can have a free of cost certificate from Harvard. However, they will have to pay for the professional one. Below, we have illustrated the overall view of all the courses they offered till now.
Well, it may sound too easy to earn a certificate from Harvard CS50, but in reality, it is not. One may find a bunch f solutions on the internet for the given assignments. But you will have to keep in mind that this university has the most intelligent human being on this planet so does their system. They use an automatic algorithm that can detect if the syntax and the approach of the code are copied from somewhere.
They highly discourage plagiarism even in the codes and they remove the student from the program. So, it is not easy, the students have to be extremely attentive and they have to learn every single detail to do the assignments and projects properly. Moreover, it is one of the largest courses of Harvard which is actually and authentically a Harvard course.
Many ask the question of whether taking the courses worth it or not. Well, I personally took a bunch of courses and attend all the classes properly. To be honest, those are the best thing a student or a learner can get for themselves to improve their skills. From scratch to deep, all the instructors cover all the topics well organized and perfectly. They engaged all the students in every second of the class.
For sure, one will not get bored but enjoy learning which is rare. Overall, it is on the individual if the case is worth it. There is so much to learn and take if the students cannot then it is their loss. They will have to keep in mind that the companies do not look for a certificate, they look for skills. Even if one is not applying for jobs, the certificate does not worth it but the knowledge they gathered.
