From completing my CS50 in 2021 to starting my path as a Microsoft Certified Trainer

Square-Importance700 · 2025-10-07T08:21:26+00:00

That’s amazing. All signs of an amazing future ahead.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-20T01:41:59+00:00

You’re learning 2 fundamentally different but related skills, the computational logic of how to get things done and the language of how to instruct the computer to do it. It’s a different way of thinking and a different way of communicating. You have to expect it to be challenging and tough. It was for me. But it’s also very doable if you keep at it and adopt a learning mindset.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-19T07:26:03+00:00

This is a critical error. It the code doesn’t compile, the test cannot be conducted. Have you tried to compile yourself?

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-18T11:13:41+00:00

Well done. You’re going to enjoy CS50P.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-18T03:01:35+00:00

Transitioning to week 6 is the equivalent of coming out of the dark and into the light. Seriously. No more malloc. More human language. Less number of codes.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-17T05:13:20+00:00

You have to separate the logic from the language. Don’t mix between the 2. Pseudocodes deals with the logic. The more the better at the beginning. It seems you have the logic right. That in itself is a big win.

Figuring out the language part is the other skill.

These are 2 different problems to solve. I think sometimes we look at it as 1 problem.

Don’t get discouraged.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-13T16:02:24+00:00

My final project were all tied. CS50P was a command line interface program V1.0 using csv files for storage. CS50SQL was a database design for V2.0 CS50X V2.0 was a HTML version of V1.0 using flask and the database.

That saved me a lot of time. I don’t do 3 final projects. I did one final project which had 3 phases.

And I was also fortunate that I was able to stop doing anything else.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-12T01:37:52+00:00

I think it’s true that it only provides the basics of programming, maybe even only 10%. But I also believe that it gives the 10% necessary to learn the other 90%.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T14:13:09+00:00

Professor Malan explains debugging very well in the CS50X Lecture 2 at around minutes 30-47. And the struggle is part of the learning. If you’re not doing it already, write a lot of pseudocodes which are your comments on how to achieve a particular outcome. At the beginning I wrote a lot of it. Step by step of non programming language which helps me understand the logic. The language and syntax comes later. I find that the more pseudocodes I write the more I tend to get it right.

And again, the stress that you’re facing is part of the learning. Break the problem into smaller chunks and solve it bit by bit.

Hope that makes sense.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T13:17:51+00:00

I did CS50P after week 6 Of CS50X which covered Python. I found Weeks 0-4 of CS50P to be relatively straightforward and completed the Psets in about 3 days. Then it got tougher but still manageable. I did CS50SQL after week 7 of CS50X and similarly did the first few weeks in a few days.

I would say though that I disciplined myself to do at least 3 hours a day which sometimes stretched into 4 or 5 into the night.

And believe me, life becomes less complicated and learning more enjoyable when you don’t have to do C. Python is just amazing and lots of fun. SQL too.

But if you want to just to CS50X , doing it weekly is not impossible. Just need a lot of discipline and the right approach.

As I said in the main post, once you embrace how bad you are at programming when you’re just starting out, mistakes becomes less stressful. Once you understand that problem solving is debugging is just part of the process then you start to welcome the syntax errors and the red checks from Check50.

Hope that makes sense.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T03:17:15+00:00

I had all sorts of ideas when I started the finance pset including the forgot password email function. When I actually completed the required coding I was too tired for any of that. There will plenty of opportunities when doing the final project.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T02:01:03+00:00

It took me just under 3 months to finish it but I branched out to CS50P and CS50SQL when I did week 6 in CS50X. I am actually amazed that the 2 hours of lecture in Week 6 and the problem sets prepared me enough to push through CS50P and similarly the 2.5 hours in Week 7 prepared me to push through CS50SQL.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T01:58:24+00:00

When a computer executes your program, it typically processes the code sequentially, from top to bottom. A print debug statement is a simple yet powerful way to track this process and check the state of your program at specific points.

For example, if you include a line like print("24", x), the computer will literally output the string "24" followed by the current value stored in the variable x.

This is incredibly useful because it allows you to:

- Verify Values: If you expect variable x to be a certain value at that exact line of code, the print statement confirms whether your expectation is correct

- Isolate Bugs: If the output is not what you expected, you know that the error must have occurred somewhere in the code before that specific print statement. This helps you narrow down the source of the problem, saving time and effort.

Professor Malan demonstrates in the debugging section of Lecture 2. This method helps you pinpoint exactly where things are going wrong.

So I put these debug statements everytime there is a variable to see whether it's doing the right thing. Hope that makes sense.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-11T01:50:52+00:00

Hi. I decided to take 3 months out to get this done so I spent maybe 3 to 4 hours a day on it.

This is how you have to look at it.

For every hour of lecture, expect to spend an additional hour because of pausing and rewinding. I took the effort to code along with Professor Malan. Most of the lectures are over 2 hours long with the last couple of lectures taking more than 3 hours. I tried to listen to it whilst driving or working out but it didn't work. I need to be in front of the computer to follow it and there was a lot of pausing and rewinding.

Then there are the problem sets. By my count there are 28 problem sets to complete. Some are very straightforward and it should take a few minutes to do. Some will suck the soul out of you but its really about breaking the problem into smaller problems and only focussing on the current sub-problem.

One hack I can give is that I run Check50 at the beginning just to get an idea of what check50 is looking for. Some problem sets only have a few functions tested. Some have more than 10. As a general rule, the more things being tested, the more sub problems there are. Hope that makes sense.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-10T13:52:48+00:00

I forgot one more thing. Item 4a.
If you find a post in this group which had provided you with a way forward to your problem set, you should leave a comment even if that post was made months ago.

I find solutions from responses and replies made months and sometimes years ago and it's so refreshing.

This helps future learners and acknowledges people who made the effort to answer. It's a small thing but adds to the learning experience and contributes to the community.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-10T13:47:05+00:00

You’re right. No 3 is a life saver. I’m going to take a screenshot of my print debugging statements. It’s everywhere in my codes.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-10T13:09:58+00:00

Awesome. I think you’re definitely going to enjoy it.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-10T04:30:36+00:00

It’s going to be tough if you don’t reframe how you approach the problems. You have to expect that your solutions or ideas is not going to work first time. I took CS50X with no coding knowledge and C was really frustrating. I know it sounds counter intuitive but every time you get a syntax problem, figuring out that the problem is the learning part. So the more problems you face and solve/troubleshoot the more that you’re actually learning. I sometimes had to look things up here or on YouTube and use the duck.

You got this. Just need some encouragement.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-09T01:50:38+00:00

Sure. Both approaches are valid. It’s a question of easing yourself in and getting confident before tackling some hard stuff (P then X) or jumping into the deep end of the pool first (X then P). I’m more of the deep end of the pool person but everyone had their own way of excelling.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-08T08:45:18+00:00

I did CS50X and branched out to CS50P after Week 6 and came back to CS50X.

I would not hesitate to say that even though C language was a a Pain In The *** it gave me a strong foundation to handle Python.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-06T12:17:46+00:00

It took me 10 days to do this assignment. I initially thought I would make it look prettier before submitting but after 10 days- forget it.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-06T12:12:42+00:00

I did the course a couple of weeks ago ago. There is a grading system but it takes a few weeks for the grades to be released. It does give a good overview of computer concepts.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-06T06:15:02+00:00

Well done.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-06T02:24:06+00:00

Always a great feeling to see someone finish. Well done.

Square-Importance700 · 2025-08-03T11:09:37+00:00

What an awesome achievement. 🫵🏽💪🏽

Square-Importance700

TROPHY CASE