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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +description: Study group in January to June 2025 designed for R contributors to develop skills in C programming. |
| 3 | +image: woman_studying.jpg |
| 4 | +layout: custom |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +# C Study Group for R Contributors 2025 |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +This is a study group meeting once a month for existing/aspiring R contributors that want to gain/refresh basic skills in C programming. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +It will run from **January to June 2025**. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +<center><img src="woman_studying.jpg" alt="Woman studying in a library with books and a laptop" width="50%"/></center> |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +## Study materials |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +The main study materials are from the C sessions of [CS50](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/), Harvard's Introduction to Computer Science. This will be supplemented with a chapter from [Deep R Programming](https://deepr.gagolewski.com/chapter/310-compiled.html) on R's C API. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +**Note: the CS50 website will update on January 1st, 2025, with an updated version of the course.** |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +## Schedule |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +**Note: this schedule will be updated with the exact dates once they have been decided (see 'Timing' section below). Links will also be updated to the 2025 material once released.** |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +| Session | Month | Resource | Material | |
| 26 | +|------------|------------|------------|-------------------------------------| |
| 27 | +| 1 | Jan | CS50 | [C](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/weeks/1/) | |
| 28 | +| 2 | Feb | CS50 | [Arrays](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/weeks/2/) | |
| 29 | +| 3 | Mar | CS50 | [Algorithms](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/weeks/3/) | |
| 30 | +| 4 | Apr | CS50 | [Memory](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/weeks/4/) | |
| 31 | +| 5 | May | CS50 | [Data Structures](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/weeks/5/) | |
| 32 | +| 6 | Jun | Deep R | [Interfacing compiled code [in R]](https://deepr.gagolewski.com/chapter/310-compiled.html) | |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +## Commitment |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +Participants should study the material and attempt the corresponding exercises before each study group meeting. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +A suggested weekly schedule for each month for the CS50 material is: |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +- Week 1: Watch "Lecture" video (2.5 hr) |
| 41 | +- Week 2: Watch "Shorts" (\~6 x 10-15 min videos that expand on topics in the lecture) and do one or more of the [additional practice](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/practice/) problems for the corresponding week |
| 42 | +- Week 3: Watch "Section" (~1hr video going beyond the lecture) and do one or more of the remaining additional practice problems |
| 43 | +- Week 4: Meet to share solutions to the practice problems. Optional: Do "Problem Set" and submit if doing course for credit, or if you want to receive an automatic grade to check your progress |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +**Note: we may update the suggestions about which problems to attempt when the CS50 course for 2025 is published.** |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +The additional practice problems are often harder than the problem set, |
| 48 | +however we suggest leaving the problem set till after the meetup and attempting |
| 49 | +this independently (this is expected if you are doing the course for credit). |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +There is the option to do further study towards a free [certificate](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/certificate/) from Harvard or a verified certificate from edX (~200 USD, financial assistance program available on edX). See the CS50 website for details. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +At study group meetings, participants should be prepared to share and discuss their work on the exercises. |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +## Timing |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +The book club will typically meet in the 4th week of the month, from January to June 2024. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +**In order to determine the best time (or two) to hold the meetings, if you are interested in attending, please fill out [this whenisgood poll](https://whenisgood.net/jqfrg3j) with your availability by MONDAY JANUARY 6TH 2025, 11PM UTC.** |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +**This page will be updated later that week with the chosen day/time(s).** |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +In due course, the [events](/events) page will be updated with actual times in your time zone, along with Google calendar and iCalendar links. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +Sign up to attend the sessions on the [R Contributors Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/r-contributors/events/). |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Sessions will be recorded and shared on on the [R Contributors Slack](/slack) for people that can't make the meetings. |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +## Further help |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +Participants are encouraged to join the #c-study-group channel on the [R Contributors Slack](/slack) to discuss with others as they work through the material. CS50 also has [communities](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/communities/) on multiple platforms that you can connect to. |
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