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Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#21

Post by djrconcepts »

Julius Sumner Miller - Physics demonstrations

I had been exposed to many of these physics concepts in school. Some of the topics never really clicked for me. Revisiting these physics topics with demonstrations brought clarity to several foundational concepts. Lots of moments of realization getting to view demonstrations of concepts like Force, Mass, Acceleration, and more. Newton and Bernoulli. While included, the series is not too heavy on the math. Enchanting series to watch through.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjzW1w9hKBnz2i90rRoZD...

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#25

Post by confidantlake »

https://learncodethehardway.org/python/

Was the first time programming clicked. It reminded me of most math books I have used, an explanation of the topic and then tons of problems/examples to solidify/learn the concept. Most other programming books I had used had almost no examples or practice problems. https://www.coursera.org/learn/build-a-computer for learning about how a computer worked. Again it clicked for the same reason. Examples and practice problems instead of just descriptions.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#26

Post by csours »

djrconcepts wrote: post #21

Julius Sumner Miller - Physics demonstrations I had been exposed to many of these physics concepts in school. Some of the topics never really clicked for me. Revisiting these physics topics with demonstrations brought clarity to several foundational concepts. Lots of moments of realization getting to view demonstrations of concepts like Force, Mass, Acceleration, and more. Newton and Bernoulli. While included, the se…

I binge watched these one night until 4 am in High School instead of working on a project.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#28

Post by jakedata »

I don't actually remember the title but in the early 90s I was starting on my journey as a self-taught sysadmin, mainly by being the only person at a tech startup that would work for so little money. Before then I was simply a hobbyist.

It eventually became necessary for me to start passing certification exams. As I was studying for the Windows NT 3.51 exam I bogged down in TCP-IP yet again.

Except this time something clicked. I suddenly _understood_ that the subnet mask simply delineated the addresses that were on the local network vs those that were not. It was the single most distinct feeling of illumination and understanding I had ever experienced.

I consider myself fortunate that I was given the opportunity to learn my craft and trade on the job. I have never had a mentor in IT, I have always had to grind it out myself. Remembering that feeling from that one day at the beginning has gotten me through a lot of the other sort of day we all have from time to time.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#29

Post by mridsole »

Type Theory and Formal Proof: An Introduction

A ground up walk-through for using dependent types for formal proof. What I liked about this book is that it's presented more as mathematics than as computer science: you can work through the whole thing with pen and paper. It doesn't really have any specific prerequisites, just a general degree of mathematical maturity and exposure to proofs.

After reading this book, I felt capable of understanding how dependent-type-based theorem provers (e.g Coq and Lean) might be implemented.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#30

Post by jjice »

quaunaut wrote: post #20

I'm a software engineer, but these have been instrumental in my success in a way no coding book can compare to(though John Ousterhout's "A Philosophy of Software Design" would have, if it came out earlier in my life). Personal time/task management- The classic, Getting Things Done( https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Produ... ). The power this has on people cannot be understated. Turns out that mos…

I second "A Philosophy of Software Design" as a great set of loose principles. Just some really good stuff to keep in mind in a succinct book. Would love for Ousterhout to write some more.
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