Teach Yourself Computer Science • Hacker News Board

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#101

Post by keutoi » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 9:41 AM UTC

panic wrote: post #32

Has anyone here learned a subject by going through one of these "teach yourself" lists? I've learned most of what I know about computers on my own, but it wasn't from following a list of textbooks. And when I've tried to follow a course like this for other subjects, despite my initial interest, I've found myself unable to make it through more than a couple chapters of the first textbook before running out of steam. B…

Not computer science but I learned a lot by going through Teach Yourself Logic[1]. I did not know where to start and how one subject relates to other and this guide helped me a lot. I have followed the guide for two years now and wish for some thing like this for every topic.

[1]: https://www.logicmatters.net/tyl/

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#102

Post by jimhefferon » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 9:41 AM UTC

ipnon wrote: post #16

I am planning on returning to university for a CS PhD after discovering that studying this curriculum is consistently the highlight of my day. Studying CS is the most interesting thing I do on a regular basis. I owe my thanks to the authors.

Email them.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#103

Post by niklasd » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 9:43 AM UTC

I really liked "The Computing Universe" by Tony Hey. It's a book which covers most of these topics on a higher level, but I felt it was (very roughly) an abstract of what I learned in the first CS semester. So I find it a very good introduction into the field for interested non-CS people.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#104

Post by stormdennis » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 9:47 AM UTC

I'd like to know the reasoning behind replacing the very approachable, concise, hands-on and doable Nand to Tetris course with what looks like an enormous textbook.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#105

Post by thundergolfer » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:03 AM UTC

Can anyone with a CS undergrad from an elite US college (Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Carnegie Mellon) comment on whether they feel their undergrad covered 100-200 hours worth of these subjects?

As someone with an Australian CS degree, I feel like my curriculum covered less than half of this properly.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#106

Post by M5x7wI3CmbEem10 » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:06 AM UTC

29athrowaway wrote: post #61

M5x7wI3CmbEem10 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve heard that Part 1 of the algorithms course is sufficient for new grad interviews. Can you verify?

I got an interview that involved part 2 (substring search), which I solved using KMP.

senior interview or new grad?

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#107

Post by M5x7wI3CmbEem10 » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:08 AM UTC

voz_ wrote: post #47

M5x7wI3CmbEem10 wrote: post #37

how much of this curriculum is necessary for a FAANG job? I’d love to go through all of them, but I’m constrained with work as well, so I’ll have to prioritize.

Pretty necessary, I cant imagine working at a FAANG without at least having read and understood "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" cover to cover.

just to get through the new grad interview, I mean.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#108

Post by M5x7wI3CmbEem10 » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:09 AM UTC

vincentmarle wrote: post #67

M5x7wI3CmbEem10 wrote: post #37

how much of this curriculum is necessary for a FAANG job? I’d love to go through all of them, but I’m constrained with work as well, so I’ll have to prioritize.

The FAANG interview process is pretty standardized, if you're pressed on time I suggest you learn and master just 2 things: data structures and system design.

is system design necessary for new grads?

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#109

Post by M5x7wI3CmbEem10 » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:09 AM UTC

throwawaygh wrote: post #53

M5x7wI3CmbEem10 wrote: post #37

how much of this curriculum is necessary for a FAANG job? I’d love to go through all of them, but I’m constrained with work as well, so I’ll have to prioritize.

More than all of it, but also none of it. You can always just hack the interview process if your primary goal is a job at a particular Big Co. In that case, learning all of the material is probably an extraordinarily inefficient path toward your goal. But "any dumbass can hack can hack mega-corp hiring processes" is sort of obvious. If your goal is to do the real thing, as opposed to knowing how to hack the American…

I just want to feed my family... I’ll worry about enlightenment later.

Re: Teach Yourself Computer Science

#110

Post by tinco » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 10:12 AM UTC

thundergolfer wrote: post #105

Can anyone with a CS undergrad from an elite US college (Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Carnegie Mellon) comment on whether they feel their undergrad covered 100-200 hours worth of these subjects? As someone with an Australian CS degree, I feel like my curriculum covered less than half of this properly.

That's definitely strange. I studied at a university in the Netherlands which implemented what I think was a European standard curriculum, and what this article mentions is a subset of the first two years of the undergraduate degree if I remember correctly.

Some elective courses are missing, and AI though it is mentioned. We also used many of the books mentioned here. Also back when I did it there were more seperate math courses that we shared with the maths undergrads. I know that they stopped doing that after I graduated.