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What are some resources to help self-taught developers learn CS theory?

26 pointsby hookedonwinteralmost 5 years ago
I'm interested in books or other resources that can help teach computer science fundamentals and theory for people (me...) who have a strong development background but no formal education.

10 comments

dragon96almost 5 years ago
Since so many CS professors make their course materials available for free, you should take advantage of that and piggyback off of multiple sources. I often search for &quot;[Concept] lecture notes&quot;, choose one of the links (based on reputability, amount of math, etc.), and check that the other sources say the same thing. You&#x27;d be surprised the extent which an independent explanation can fill in the gaps of your understanding.<p>CS theory is fairly modular, so there&#x27;s no need to stick to a single set of course notes or textbook for different topics -- just find whoever does it best for a given topic.<p>Also do lots of problems.
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brudgersalmost 5 years ago
[my standard unpopular answer]<p>CS is hard for everyone. There are no easy parts. Even for Knuth who has been writing <i>The Art of Computer Programming</i> for almost sixty years. It was started when everybody was self taught. It is still for self-teaching. Even for people with degrees. Even if that degree is a PhD.<p>Don&#x27;t get me wrong. I&#x27;m not saying &quot;don&#x27;t use anything else.&quot; But <i>TAoCP</i> is the backbone of everything else. It&#x27;s all the messy details and the messy details matter a big part of the time. It is good to be fearful of the messy details. It is bad to be afraid of them.<p>Good luck.
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hejjaalmost 5 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;teachyourselfcs.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;teachyourselfcs.com</a>
rxselalmost 5 years ago
Have you checked out <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;teachyourselfcs.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;teachyourselfcs.com</a><p>My personal belief if that there really are no rules to how you go about learning a given subject. If reading isn&#x27;t your preferred method of learning, find an alternative source, on the same subject, in your medium of choice.
memexyalmost 5 years ago
Here are some results when this question was asked last time: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?q=%22computer+science+fundamentals%22" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?q=%22computer+science+fundamentals%2...</a>. Start there and if you still can&#x27;t find what you need then make your question more focused. I also searched for &quot;computer science&quot; &quot;books&quot; and got even more results: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?dateRange=all&amp;page=0&amp;prefix=false&amp;query=%22computer%20science%22%20%22books%22&amp;sort=byPopularity&amp;type=story" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?dateRange=all&amp;page=0&amp;prefix=false&amp;qu...</a>.
yesenadamalmost 5 years ago
This question is asked on HN all the time, every week it seems. Here&#x27;s one search that brings up hundreds of answers from the last year alone.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?dateRange=all&amp;page=0&amp;prefix=true&amp;query=resources%20learn%20CS&amp;sort=byDate&amp;type=story" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hn.algolia.com&#x2F;?dateRange=all&amp;page=0&amp;prefix=true&amp;que...</a>
gcoppinialmost 5 years ago
the imposters handbook<p>DON&#x27;T HAVE A CS DEGREE AND FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD? Hey I don&#x27;t have one either and I always managed to get the job done anyway... then again...<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bigmachine.io&#x2F;products&#x2F;the-imposters-handbook&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bigmachine.io&#x2F;products&#x2F;the-imposters-handbook&#x2F;</a>
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hackermailmanalmost 5 years ago
Try an undergrad complexity theory course <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;channel&#x2F;UCWnu2XymDtORV--qG2uG5eQ&#x2F;playlists" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;channel&#x2F;UCWnu2XymDtORV--qG2uG5eQ&#x2F;pla...</a>
joyj2ndalmost 5 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bigmachine.io&#x2F;products&#x2F;the-imposters-handbook&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bigmachine.io&#x2F;products&#x2F;the-imposters-handbook&#x2F;</a>
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travmattalmost 5 years ago
teachyourselfcs.com