CS50P – Python Learning & Security Projects

This repository documents my Python learning journey through Harvard's CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python (CS50P).

Alongside the official course exercises and problem sets, I build small personal projects that apply the Python concepts I learn to cybersecurity, SOC analysis, and security automation.

What I'm Learning

The course covers Python fundamentals including:

• Variables and data types
• Functions and arguments
• String manipulation
• Conditionals and Boolean logic
• Loops
• Lists and dictionaries
• Exceptions
• Libraries
• Unit testing
• File I/O
• Regular expressions
• Object-oriented programming

Repository Structure

The repository is organized by course week.

Each week contains two types of work:

CS50P Exercises

• Course exercises
• Problem sets
• Coding practice

Personal Projects

• Small programs built independently
• Cybersecurity-focused exercises
• SOC and security automation experiments
• Projects that reinforce concepts learned during that week

Example structure:

CS50P/
├── Week_0/
│   ├── indoor.py
│   ├── playback.py
│   ├── faces.py
│   ├── einstein.py
│   └── tip.py
│
├── Week_1/
│   ├── Exercise/
│   │   ├── bank.py
│   │   ├── deep.py
│   │   ├── extensions.py
│   │   ├── interpreter.py
│   │   └── meal.py
│   └── Personal/
│       └── soc_triage.py
│
├── Week_2/
│   ├── Exercise/
│   │   ├── camel.py
│   │   ├── coke.py
│   │   ├── nutrition.py
│   │   ├── plates.py
│   │   └── twttr.py
│   └── Personal/
│       └── soc_login_analyzer.py
│
└── ...

Personal Security Projects

Week 1 – SOC Alert Triage

One of my first personal Python exercises applies basic Python concepts to a simple SOC alert-triage scenario.

The script collects:

• Username
• Source IP address
• Number of failed login attempts
• Whether a successful login followed the failures

It then uses conditional logic to classify the activity as:

• LOW
• MEDIUM
• HIGH
• CRITICAL

This project was built to reinforce:

• input()
• Variables
• Functions
• Integer conversion
• if / elif / else
• Boolean conditions
• Return values
• f-strings

Week 2 – SOC Login Event Analyzer

The Week 2 personal project expands from analyzing a single user-provided alert to processing multiple login events stored as structured data.

Each event contains:

• Username
• Source IP address
• Number of failed login attempts

The script:

• Iterates through multiple login events
• Classifies each event as LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH severity
• Counts the total number of events
• Summarizes events by severity
• Identifies IP addresses that appear in more than one event

This project was built to reinforce:

• for loops
• Lists
• Dictionaries
• Lists of dictionaries
• len()
• Iteration
• Counters
• Conditional logic
• Dictionary membership
• Working with structured data

The project intentionally uses concepts introduced up to Week 2 rather than more advanced Python techniques, allowing the scripts to develop alongside my progress through the course.

Running the Programs

Python 3 is required.

Clone the repository or open it locally, navigate to the appropriate directory, and run a script with:

python filename.py

For example:

python soc_login_analyzer.py

Goal

My goal is not only to complete CS50P, but to develop a strong Python foundation that I can eventually apply to security operations, log analysis, automation, APIs, data processing, and other cybersecurity workflows.

Rather than jumping directly into advanced security-specific Python scripts, this repository tracks the fundamentals first and shows how those skills develop over time.

Status

🚧 In Progress

Completed coursework and personal practice through CS50P Week 2.

The personal security projects will continue to develop as new Python concepts are introduced.