Why you shouldn't be taking CS50 as a beginner learning to code!

Why you shouldn't be taking CS50 as a beginner learning to code!

A short journey into a mistake too many developers make starting out!

I know what you're thinking, but hear me out because I made this mistake. Of course, this advice is for web developers, if you don't want to be a web dev, this might not be for you. When I first wanted to learn to code I didn't know much, I knew that I wanted to build things for the web and that was about it, so like most people in this day and age, I asked Youtube.

Now Youtube is full of "How I would learn to code (If I could start over)" videos, so I picked the ones with the most views and dived in. Nearly every single video suggests CS50 as a great place to start for a beginner, so off I went.

Now before I go any further I just want to clarify that I met LOADS of other people in the CS50 discord and on the Youtube live chats who had the same issue as me.

Anyway, I started CS50 and at first it was awesome, I loved the teaching style, and still being new I was naive to the fact that the subject matter was hardly relevant to me as a wannabe web dev. It wasn't until about Week 4 that I took a step back and realised I had done nothing but copy tutorials and make notes that I would never read again this whole course, and still not one mention of websites. I was confused.

It was around this time that I discovered the Odin Project and I was instantly thrown into material based around the web, it was then that I realised my silly mistake, and it was then that I learnt about the different types of developers and how certain courses are for certain areas of the industry.

So basically this is just a short cautionary tale for anybody starting out as a web dev who has heard that CS50 is great for beginners, it's not a long read but I hope I can help someone.

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