Documenting my journey with CS 50.
I have “programmed” for about five years now. I took a Java course when I was a junior in high school: learning the syntax of Java, basic conditionals, and some OOP. As a freshman in college, I had to learn C++ (even more basic instruction than my Java course). I remember writing a LOT of pseudocode. We also learned MATLAB (yes, I know it isn’t quite programming but uses a lot of similar concepts). Throughout college, I primarily used MATLAB in my coding, especially in my research. I dabbled a little bit with Python in my internship too.
So, as someone who has had exposure to coding for five years, what can I program? Well, I have done some tasks with image analyses, some coding for an Arduino, and some statistical analyses. By no means would I consider myself a programmer. I don’t think before I code, I just.. do it (along with a lot of googling).
As a recent college grad, I know the value of computer programming in today’s job market. I decided to do CS 50, Harvard’s introductory CS course that is available for free online. I hope to eventually move on to the Python version of the course too.
Week 0 focused on how computers understand things through binary (explained in a very logical way!), introduction to pseudocode, and Scratch.
I can definitely say that after learning “how to code” several times, I wish I had been taught initially using Scratch. It uses the concepts of programming but in a graphical format. It eliminates the struggle of syntax, which I’ve had to learn several times for each language I work with.
Honestly, syntax creates a headache for the beginner programmer. You wonder, “why doesn’t my code work?” and it’s because you’re missing a comma or your indentation is wrong. And these are obviously important things when coding, but it creates an additional barrier when you’re first starting out. I also think the “puzzle piece” nature of Scratch makes it easy to implement conditionals and break down larger programs into smaller tasks.
I’m about to attempt PS 0, which is to create a game/animation/story/etc. using Scratch. I’ve come up with an initial plan of a “world”/story to build, now I just have to implement it!
