Computer Science and Mobile Apps

About this Professional Certificate

Whether it’s finding a good spot for lunch, posting a photo of that lunch on Instagram, or just getting some work done while on the go, mobile apps have become deeply ingrained in how we live, work, and play. Smartphones have become ubiquitous and the potential to make a dramatic impact on the everyday lives of millions of people has never been greater — but where do you start? How do you go from being a user to a skilled creator? What do you need to know and how do you learn it all?

The CS50 courses at Harvard have taught the art of programming to computer science majors and non-majors alike, to those with serious coding chops and those with no prior computer programming experience. Led by Professor David J. Malan, this program teaches learners how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. The core Introduction to Computer Science course will give you a broad and robust understanding of the fundamentals of programming and computer systems. Then you’ll build on those fundamentals to learn about mobile app development using the React Native Framework.

With problem sets inspired by cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming, you’ll become familiar with a variety of programming languages, then you’ll build expertise in modern JavaScript and learn the paradigms, app architecture, and user interfaces of JSX (a JavaScript extension) and React Native. The course culminates in a final project for which you'll implement an app entirely of your own design.

What you'll learn

• A broad and robust understanding of computer science and programming
• Concepts like abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development
• Familiarity in a number of languages, including C, Python, JavaScript, SQL, CSS, and HTML
• How to develop your own mobile app using JavaScript, JSX, ES6, React Native
• How to master components, props, state, style, views, user input, components, and debugging
• How to implement an app entirely of your own design

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