So You Wanna Code Course Outline

Course areas

• PROG - Programming
• PRAG - Pragmatics
• DB - Databases
• SOC - Social stuff
• PROJ - Project Management
• NERD - Nerd culture and support stuff

Program Sequence

• Preparation
  • PROG 001
• Semester 1
  • PRAG 101
  • PROG 101
  • SOC 101
  • NERD 101
• Semester 2
  • PRAG 102
  • PROG 102
  • PROG 103 or 104 or 105 (pick 1 or 2)
  • SOC 102
  • NERD 102
• Semester 3
  • PRAG 201
  • PROJ 201 (elective)
  • PROG 201 or 202 (elective)
  • DB 201
  • DB 202 (elective)

TODO: Probably define specific “tracks” for Web Dev and Data Science.

Preparation

PROG 001: Preparation for Noobs / Summer Reading

Time: 3 days

• Read through this whole Course Outline
• Write an Expectations Essay and send it to Andrew
• Read:
  • Code by Charles Petzold
  • Coders by Clive Thompson
  • Optional: Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
• Take the HarvardX “CS50’s Understanding Technology” course
• Join the “Lovelace Cafe” Discord
  • Email Andrew for an invite
• Get an okay Mac or Windows computer
  • Or, if you have a crappy computer and need to save money, wait 3 months on this; you won’t really need any power until Semester 2. Talk to Andrew if unsure.

Semester 1

PRAG 101: Setting up as a Dev

• Read my Practical OpSec page and follow its advice
• Set up your online identity
  • Pick a handle
  • Get a domain
  • Create accounts on dev-related services
• Install dev stuff on your computer and devices
• Set up your learning stream
• Set up your dev meatspace

See the PRAG-101 page for details.

PROG 101: Beginning Programming

Time: 8 weeks

• Look in to online programming courses
  • Take a look at the HarvardX CS50 programs on edX so you can see what learning tracks are available
• Take an “Intro to Programming” online course.
  • Recommended: Harvard’s “CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science” on edX
• Read The Little Schemer and work all the exercises
• Read through Introducing Python and work all the exercises
• Read The Pragmatic Programmer topics 1-22
  • And follow their advice!
• At the end of the class, do a couple dozen of the HackerRank Python challenges

SOC 101

TODO: Come up with some material on:

• Isms in the tech industry
  • Sexism, ageism, racism, and how this will affect you
• Computer ethics
• Social justice issues in tech

This is an issue because Andrew is totally unqualified to teach this stuff, or even pick out classes or a reading curriculum that would.

NERD 101

Time: 2 weeks

Read some:

• Slashdot
• XKCD
• SwiftOnSecurity
• Hacker News
• Julia Evans’ Wizard Zines
• Strange Planet
• Commit Strip
• Joel on Software
• The Jargon File
• PHD - Piled Higher and Deeper (?)

Watch:

• Sneakers (1992 movie)

Read:

• William Gibson, Neuromancer
• Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of EarthSea

Enrichment:

• Play Rez Infinite (PlayStation game)
• Watch:
  • The Matrix (1999 movie)
  • Ghost in the Shell (the original 1995 anime film)
• Read:
  • Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

Semester 2

PRAG 102: Flexible development and self promotion

Time: 3 weeks

• Set up SSH keys
• Set up some local VMs
  • Make a Mac VM
    • Install basic dev tools and Homebrew on it
    • Sync your Google Cloud drive to it
  • Make a Linux VM
    • Use the latest Ubuntu LTS
• Set up a cloud VM
  • Provision a Linux VM on GCP
  • Log in to it remotely with SSH
• TODO: Some stuff on learning the Unix command line
• Read The Pragmatic Programmer topics 23-32 and 37-44
• Start doing HackerRank
  • Set up a HackerRank account
  • Do a few challenges from each of the languages learned in PROG 101
• Set up a time tracking system
  • Use an actual time tracking tool
• Learn Markdown and Jekyll
  • Create a GitHub Pages site using them
• Research computer ergonomics
  • Consider your posture, typing habits, and break time practices
• Learn about dev conferences
  • Have a look at PyCon, PyGotham, !!Con, Apache conferences, WWDC, and so on

PROG 102: Next Steps

• Read The Practice of Programming
• Read Database In Depth
• Read “No Silver Bullet” by Fred Brooks

PROG 103: Web Development

Time: 6 weeks

• Enroll in the HarvardX “CS for Web Programming” certificate
• Take the “CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript” course

PROG 104: Data Science and Analysis

Time: 6 weeks

• Take MITx’s “Intro to Computational Thinking and Data Science” course
• Take an introductory R course (?)
• Read Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

PROG 105: Cloud Stuff, Sysadminning, and DevOps

TODO: Find some material on GCP training and certification

SOC 102

• The FLOSS movement
  • The Free Software movement
    • GNU and the FSF; RMS
    • Read “The GNU Manifesto”
      • Maybe also “The GNU Project”, “Free Software Definition”, and “Why “Free Software” is Better than “Open Source”” from Free Software, Free Society
    • Look at RMS’s home page
    • A warning about the GNU/Linux scene’s prickliness and zealotry
  • The Open Source movement
    • ESR
    • The OSI?
    • Read “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”
  • Read:
    • The Linux Foundation’s “Participating in Open Source Communities” guide
    • opensource.guide’s “How to Contribute

NERD 102

• Learn about mechanical keyboards
• Get a programming t-shirt

Semester 3

PRAG 201: The Job Search

• Update your resume
  • And post it on your website
• Join Triplebyte, learn about their process, and prepare to do their interview
• Join TopCoder
• Update your “professional” profiles
  • LinkedIn
  • DEV
• Read:
  • The Pragmatic Programmer topics 45-53
  • “The best investment advice you’ll never get”

PROG 201: Getting Lower Level with Java

• Read O’Reilly’s Learning Java and work all the exercises
• TODO: Find a Java programming MOOC course
  • Maybe the Duke Java sequence on Coursera?
  • Or maybe the UCSD one

PROG 202: Getting Close to the Metal with C

• Read 21st Century C and work all the exercises
  • Start with the tutorial from the Appendix!
• Do as many of the HackerRank C challenges as you can
  • This won’t be all of them, by any means. They get tough!

PROJ 201: Intro to Project Management

• Read The Mythical Man-Month
• Read The Manager’s Path
• Get a PMI CAPM certification
  • Take a CAPM preparation course
    • PMI’s Project Management Basics ($400)
    • Alternative: Udemy’s CAPM Prep Seminar ($100)
  • Take the CAPM certification exam

DB 201: Using SQL

• Learn how to write basic SQL
  • SQL queries
  • Basic schema design
  • TODO: Pick book/course/curriculum
• Learn basic SQL Server use and administration
  • TODO: Curriculum
• Take these Stanford Online Databases courses:
  • Databases: Relational Databases and SQL
• Get a Microsoft SQL certification
  • TODO: Specify exactly which cert(s)

DB 202: Relational Theory

Prereq: DB 201

• Read An Introduction to Database Systems
  • And work the exercises
  • If you’re short on time, just do the Relational Algebra part, and skip Relational Calculus
• Take these Stanford Online Databases courses:
  • Databases: Modeling and Theory
  • Databases: Advanced Topics in SQL