CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python review
Harvard University · harvard-cs50
Harvard's Python course for people who have never programmed. The cleanest route from zero to writing real code.
What does it take?
| Difficulty | 2 out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Not checked yet |
| Format | Video, Projects |
| Maths needed | No maths |
| Coding needed | Yes, you will write code |
| Hardware needed | Not checked yet |
| Certificate | Free certificate |
| Free to audit | Yes |
| Pace | Self-paced |
| Last updated by the provider | Not checked yet |
Who should take it, and who should skip it?
Take it if you are
- Complete beginners who want to code
- Anyone who bounced off shorter Python tutorials
Skip it if you are
- People who already write Python comfortably
- Anyone who only wants to understand AI conceptually
What will you be able to do after it?
- Write, run and debug your own Python programs
- Read other people's code without panicking
- Start an ML course without the language getting in the way
What's in each module?
| Module | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Functions, variables and conditionals | The basic building blocks, taught slowly and properly. |
| Loops, exceptions and libraries | Making programs that do more than one thing and fail gracefully. |
| Testing, files and object-oriented programming | The habits that make code reusable. |
What we liked, and what we didn't
What we liked
- Superb lecturing
- Real problem sets with automatic feedback
- Free certificate through CS50's own site
What we didn't
- Not AI-specific at all
- Problem sets take longer than you expect
What's the catch?
The free certificate comes from CS50 itself. The edX-branded verified certificate costs money.
What should you take before it?
Nothing. This is a starting course: you need no AI or coding background.
What should you take after it?
- Pandas
Short, hands-on lessons on the data library every ML tutorial quietly assumes you already know.
- Kaggle Intro to Machine Learning
Kaggle's 7-lesson first machine learning course takes about 3 hours, costs nothing and ends with a competition. Kaggle gives a free completion certificate.
- CS50's Introduction to AI with Python
CS50's Introduction to AI with Python runs 7 weeks with 12 projects, costs nothing and gives a free CS50 Certificate if you score 70% on every project.
How we rated it: 9 out of 10
| Criterion | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|
| Clarity | 10 |
| Hands-on practice | 9 |
| Up to date | 8 |
| Depth | 8 |
| Truly free | 9 |
So should you take it?
If you've never coded and know you'll need Python for AI, do this before anything else. It's slower than a tutorial, but you come out actually understanding what your code does.
Where to go next
- Harvard CS50: our platform review
What else it offers, and what costs money.
- Kaggle Learn: Python
Kaggle's 7-lesson Python course takes about 5 hours, costs nothing and pairs every lesson with an exercise notebook. Kaggle gives a free completion certificate.
- ML for Beginners
A free, open-source curriculum on classic machine learning with scikit-learn, taught through small projects.
Last checked .
Not sure this is the one?
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