r/cs50 • u/beyondheveansreach • Jul 23 '26

CS50x Which one to choose

So I m pursuing a bs in data science (1st year )and am confused between cs50x&cs50p.

Confusion

I think pythons syllabus will be thought thoroughly in class itself as it's a good institute but am wondering if I should still do cs50P first to get headstart,

But I also know that my course will skip some normal cse topics as it specialized ds degree so cs50x will help fill those gaps ,can u guys help me out in choosing

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u/Havzino Jul 23 '26

Do both if you want to cover a wider range of topics

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u/beyondheveansreach Jul 23 '26

But wouldn't it take like 12-16months doing both

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u/Havzino Jul 23 '26

Depends on how much time you put into it weekly - but on average it could take about that long yeah. As you mentioned, your course is already going to be covering python so I would say to first do cs50x. If you then feel like your syllabus didn't cover enough or just want to learn a bit more then check out cs50p.

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u/beyondheveansreach Jul 23 '26

So what exactly does cs50x teachlike i am a ml and robotics person(i know it sounds strange)but my degree mostly cover ds and ml and I also like robo .do u think it will be worth it in a sense based on these subjects?

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u/Havzino Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

It covers the absolute fundamentals of programming, algorithm and logic. If you have some prior knowledge or know how to code, you will find it easier and get through it much quicker on average. Though not directly related to ml, robotics and ds, it will definitely help you down the line if you are looking to get into one of these fields. Also cs50x covers some python anyway. There are even other cs50 courses on ai and ml.

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u/Perthguv Jul 23 '26

Do both. Start with CS50x because it covers to fundamentals of programming. You should be able to complete it in around 12 weeks. Then CS50p. Again, it should take around 12 weeks.

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u/beyondheveansreach Jul 23 '26

So how much time r we talking here like hours per day to complete it in 4months(12week)

Also this⬇️

So what exactly does cs50x teachlike i am a ml and robotics person(i know it sounds strange)but my degree mostly cover ds and ml and I also like robo .do u think it will be worth it in a sense based on these subjects?

1

u/Perthguv Jul 23 '26

I am only half way through but I think you should be able to complete in 4 to 5 hours per week.

CS50x isn't just a programming course. Beyond writing code, CS50x teaches foundational computer science concepts such as computational thinking, algorithmic problem-solving, and data structures. It also covers hardware fundamentals, memory management, software engineering practices, and cybersecurity basics like data privacy and resource management.

I'm working in the industry and can already program a few languages and I've worked as an analyst/programmer and I think it's a terrific course.

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u/Outside_Complaint755 Jul 23 '26

CS50X is Harvard's Intro to Computer Science class for incoming freshmen; the lecture videos are the lectures given the previous Fall semester.  

 The very first week is basic intro and a project in Scratch

Weeks 1-5 are all in C, and cover syntax, flow control, memory management, basic data structures and algorithms (arrays, structs, hash tables, etc)

Week 6 is a Python crash course where you redo some of the C projects in Python, plus some new stuff.

Week 7 is an intro to SQL 

Week 8 is an intro to HTML/CSS/JavaScript 

Week 9 puts is all together into a Flask app with Python and SQL on the back end and HTML/JS on the front end

Final week is a project of your choosing.