I've been putting in around six hours a day into CS50 and managed to finish problem set 9 in about 25 days. Before this, I had around three years of programming experience, mainly focusing on Python projects. However, I've seen that some people are only halfway through after four months, and I'm starting to second-guess whether I've grasped everything properly or just rushed through. How can I tell if I truly understand the material beyond just memorizing the lectures? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
It's likely you finished quickly because your previous experience helped you grasp the concepts faster, not because you skipped anything. To really check your understanding, try building a small project from scratch without referencing the course. You can also teach the material to someone else, tackle problems on different platforms, or redo older assignments after taking a break. If you can navigate those without major hiccups, you're on solid ground.
I appreciate the advice! I have been using the duck debugger a lot, but I'm committed to building my final project completely without any AI assistance and incorporating as many concepts from the lectures as possible!