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OSSU: Path to a free, self-taught education in computer science
- asicsp 5y agoSimilar/related guides: * https://teachyourselfcs.com/ https://teachyourselfcs.com/ * https://matt.might.net/articles/what-cs-majors-should-know/ https://matt.might.net/articles/what-cs-majors-should-know/ * https://github.com/ossu/data-science https://github.com/ossu/data-science
- dang 5y agoPast related threads: OSSU: A path to a free self-taught education in computer science - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21062799 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21062799 - Sept 2019 (172 comments) Path to a free self-taught education in Computer Science - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16035839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16035839 - Dec 2017 (66 comments)
- switchb4 5y agoAll this is needed for becoming a better what?
- habibur 5y agoBalancing binary tree.
- switchb4 5y agoYou couldn't say computer scientist
- sdevonoes 5y agoDon't get it (was it a joke?) Answering your question: To become a better computer scientist.
- switchb4 5y agoYou can't call yourself a computer scientist by doing self taught education. That's the biggest problem with it
- alexeldeib 5y agoYou can't say you have a degree in computer science, but you can certainly learn and practice the theory and concepts just as well as anyone else. And to that end: I see lots of good material!
- larodi 5y agoat the end of all this self-thought modern approach to education i see only one thing - alienation.
- switchb4 5y agoExactly.
- alexeldeib 5y agoAlienation from? The academic community? I question whether those are the folks this content targets.
- alexeldeib 5y agoAnswered further down, but this take seems very pessimistic. So what if this doesn't result in a computer science degree? It absolutely will result in a deeper understanding of the theory of computer science, its practical uses in software development, and a hardware level understanding of how computation works in practice. That's nothing to sneer at.
- switchb4 5y agoBut you can't use this knowledge to build something significant that community calls you a computer scientist.
- alexeldeib 5y agoWhy does that matter? Think of this from the perspective of a bootcamp grad working in tech, for example. That person might want to complement their practical skills with theoretical knowledge and deeper understanding. That understanding can help them hone their skills and develop professionally as an engineer. There are lots of people for whom this content is very valuable. Many of those people don't necessarily care about being able to use the title "computer scientist" is totally irrelevant. I have a degree in computer science but I don't call myself a computer scientist. I don't see the reason to disparage the content because it doesn't come with the title. Maybe I'm missing something you can share?
- switchb4 5y agoWhat is in CS that makes it a field that can be self taught? Can you become a self taught physicist? I think you can't. Then what is the difference between studies in CS and physics?
- fbcpck 5y agoThis comes back to your (or my) definition of science. To me it's just about furthering knowledge through provable explanations. Is it more efficient if you collaborate with other people with the same goal (e.g. Academia)? Yes. Is it a necessity to conduct science? Absolutely not; how do you think it was done in the past? Almost all of the early scientists were self-taught individuals.
- hestefisk 5y agoI personally find the algebra and infinitesimal calculus quite useful for general problem solving skills. Sure it doesn’t provide you with concrete skills in the latest JS framework but it does help in terms of ability to reason about abstract problems and generalisations. Each to their own but I find it quite useful (I used to be a dev but now work in strategy consulting and here I cherish my math skills every day).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bruce343434 5y agoDo you actually get a degree at the end? Or is it a lot of work that you put in which will be ignored by recruiters that "just get too many applications" and filter by college education?
- lennoff 5y agoIs a CS degree important nowadays? I do have one, but literally no one mentioned or asked about my education during an interview, ever.
- switchb4 5y agoNo one asked you because you already have a degree in CS. But for a non CS graduate things are different I guess
- psyc 5y agoI didn’t go to college, and I don’t include an education section on my resume. In 23 years in the industry, I’ve never been asked.
- switchb4 5y agoWell you are an inspiration for others. Can you share some useful knowledge so others can benefit from your experiences?
- psyc 5y agoI can summarize my path. Ages 12-20, wrote code every day. Took a QA job at a small software company. Moved to development team. Spent 6 years there. Used that experience to get into Microsoft. 5 years there. At that point, there were almost no companies that wouldn’t interview me, and it was just on me to do well in the interviews. I have practiced white boarding all through my career. So the idea is to get your foot in whatever door you can at that time, and climb when you can.
- mssundaram 5y agoIf you have the opportunity to go to university, my personally small and insignificant advice - do it. If you're already established in the industry but haven't studied these things - do it.
- the_only_law 5y ago> If you have the opportunity to go to university, my personally small and insignificant advice - do it. I’ve attempted to look into it a few times, but it seems pretty clear they don’t want me. From the prohibitive costs, to the riding, bureaucratic admission where my high school disciplinary record is more important than my resume and where I’m a “dependent” despite what my tax returns have said for the last several years, it’s clear that universities are mostly interested in gullible HS seniors who’s parents can co-sign for insane loans. In the US at least.
- mike00632 5y agoPerhaps go to a state school or school with easier admissions. If you're really diligent then you can graduate at top of your class and make a good impression on your professors who are well connected in the industry. You would very likely have great prospects taking this route.
- wildgeodude 5y agoAutodidacts ASSEMBLE!
- throwawayobvs 5y agoAnd re-invent the wheel. Or build scripting languages on top of scripting languages. And lay bricks and call them "code".
- TheGigaChad 5y agoOr doxx your idiotic ass.
- lanecwagner 5y agoOSSU does a great job. I recently started building a CS curriculum with a focus on giving students a single interactive place to get all the material. You can check it out here if interested: https://GitHub.com/Qvault/curriculum https://GitHub.com/Qvault/curriculum
- heenrik 5y agoAs someone who teaches Human-Computer Interaction in a CS program, I find it odd that there are no HCI topics on that list. Especially, when they say it's a "complete education in computer science". Perhaps it's a matter of tradition etc., but some basic knowledge about HCI might be useful ;) I'm not surprised, but still, Bush, Licklider, Engelbart, Weiser, Kay, Victor etc. are all about HCI...
- j45 5y agoHCI remains one of my favourite CS topics. Understanding the user beyond tactics of engagement and viral loops is a valuable skill. With the sharding of software developers into frontend and backend developers, perhaps the HCI through the software layers is falling thru the cracks.
- manquer 5y agoThis is minimum curriculum that you need to have knowledge of. It is not full replica of undergrad course. Also CS not IT. I am not sure learning HCI helps with computer science itself most of which is really applied math.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nivenkos 5y agoNand2Tetris and Roughgarden, looks like an excellent syllabus tbh. Unfortunately it's pretty worthless without a paper degree. It's cool that Finland is now having open online registration for Finnish citizens to do online courses like https://fullstackopen.com/en/ https://fullstackopen.com/en/ It's a shame something like that doesn't exist in every country.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dento 5y agoIn Finland you can usually complete first year of the bachelors studies without enrolling to the university. Some of the courses, like first programming courses in CS, are free. Others cost a small fee, around 75€ per course. If you decide to enroll in the uni later, those will be acknowledged as well. They also have Digital Education For All program that has all of the first year studies for free. I personally did complete about six months worth of studies while still in the secondary education.
- nivenkos 5y agoYeah, it seems so awesome. And using the Personnummer / BankID to allow all the registration online, etc. Lightyears ahead of the rest of Europe.
- tashoecraft 5y agoFor a lot of positions, this is worth more than a paper degree. If I came across a candidate who did all of this, has a profile filled with visible projects, and was able to finish all of this course work self directed then they are going to be worlds better than most CS graduates.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- CleverLikeAnOx 5y agoA lot of comments are dismissing this because it doesn't provide a credential upon completion. But you don't get mad at a hammer for not putting staples in paper, nor get mad at a stapler for not putting nails in wood. This is a tool that gives empowers you to educate yourself, not a tool that gives you a credential. As someone with a deep love of learning and knowledge, I am delighted that this exists.
- nicoburns 5y agoI think the reason fo this emphasis is that there are already plenty of resources for self-learning CS. Indeed a lot of the mainstream universities make their course materials available. The bit that is not typically available is the credential, so if we truly want to disrupt the edcuation model then that's the bit that needs to be solved.
- psiconaut 5y agoyes, but please consider that pursuing such disruption and getting a self-taught education might be orthogonal problems. event though there are many resources, I appreciate the effort put into curating a selection of those.
- j45 5y agoThis type of logic would say there no point in having more than a few CS programs worldwide because it already exists. Credentials historically are built in the brand of the institution, a clock which is starting to tick. Would you care for the credential of an institution if it goes out of business in the next 3-5 years?
- nicoburns 5y ago> This type of logic would say there no point in having more than a few CS programs worldwide because it already exists. Well... yes. If they were all open programs then that may well be true. Of course there's value in diversity. But it does seem like a massive waste of resources that we have students paying thousands for tuition they could get much cheaper if it was shared around more widely. > Would you care for the credential of an institution if it goes out of business in the next 3-5 years? That depends entirely on whether my credential was still accepted beyond that point. But in any case, I don't see why a new credentialing organisation should last any less long than an older one.
- gtsnexp 5y agoWould be great to add pure Physics and Mathematics syllabi.
- exdsq 5y agoThis is a nice way to learn CS in your own time. Sure there's no piece of paper at the end but it should help improve your skills & remove any sort of impostor syndrome junior self-taught devs might have. Some of these comments remind me of an argument in "The Case Against Education" by Bryan Caplan that degrees are more about signalling than anything else nowadays. If you have two candidates applying for a job. One audited MIT classes for four years completing all problem sets but not receiving any credits. The other cheated and dragged their way to a low-GPA degree but has the qualification. Who would be more likely to get a job offer?
- aero-glide2 5y agoHow does OSSU compare to https://teachyourselfcs.com/ https://teachyourselfcs.com/ ? I just started the latter.
- KarimDaghari 5y agoI've tried both (but have not completed them): In contrast to OSSU, TYSCS focuses purely on the fundamentals.
- evnix 5y agocan we make something similar for medical studies. I know it is a walled garden at the moment.
- dancemethis 5y agoHopefully they make a Matrix space soon so people can talk safely and make a community.
- lrvick 5y agoWas disappointed to see that an open source education project requires one to accept the terms of service of a proprietary, centralized, and privacy adverse service like Discord to be able to communicate with others. This makes it hard to recommend to others. I don't understand this trend.
- jraph 5y ago> I don't understand this trend Network effect. I don't like it neither. Many open source projects adopt Discord now, making it harder to be part of their community if you want to avoid non-free software / closed networks. (What next? Open source projects hosted on a non-free social network? /s) From the outside, this is an impressive phenomenon, where in a very short time you notice everybody suddenly going to Discord and you don't understand what's happening / what's the deal. But since nobody cares, it's not a problem.
- actually_a_dog 5y agoIn what way is Discord particularly privacy averse?
- zeepzeep 5y agoThere's a feature that they scan your messages for abusive content, so it's surely not encrypted as they can read every private message
- actually_a_dog 5y agoDo they advertise encryption?
- imwillofficial 5y ago"Do the advertise encryption?" Do they need to? The point wasn't "they falsely advertise encryption" The point was "they do not respect privacy" Their advertising is irrelevant.
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- claymorepsy 5y agoI love this. I used back in 2015 and did many courses but didn't finish.
- jason0597 5y agoWhy can't this exist for traditional engineering? Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, etc.
- kyawzazaw 5y agoMaterials
- wheelinsupial 5y agoIt kind of does, but what would be the purpose? In many countries you can’t work as a traditional engineer without the license. To get the license you need to complete the degree, and then do the apprenticeship and exams. Yes, some exceptions exist, but those are the minority, and they still require formal schooling. For example, [0] outlines requirements for a bridging pilot program in BC, Canada. To be eligible you are required to have a diploma of technology as the minimum level of education. That’s 2 years of study in BC. You’ll still need to learn the remaining 2 years of the engineering curriculum on your own and you’ll need to demonstrate equivalent mastery. MIT OCW has a lot of material available for the traditional engineering curricula with guides [1]. The licensing body in your region may publish curricula that include example textbooks to acquire the material from. See [2], for example. However, there are some limitations to what you can learn without having access to the labs. You can learn the mechanics, physics, programming, math calculation as an individual, but that’s not the only thing being taught. With maker spaces it might be possible to learn some of the manufacturing process courses on your own. Much of traditional engineering involves looking up details in the specifications and standards documents and “connecting the plumbing” so to speak. There are engineers who are “catalogue engineers” and others who are “spreadsheet engineers”. There is very little “rolling your own” like in software. But again, why? If it’s for personal education, then the material is out there as I hope I’ve been able to show. But if it’s for professional practice, then going through a formal program of some kind is probably required. [0] https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Individual-Registrants/How-to-Apply/Bridging-Pilot-Program https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Individual-Registrants/How-... [1] https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mit-curriculum-guide/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mit-curriculum-guide/ [2] https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Individual-Registrants/How-to-Apply/Examinations-Seminars/Academic-Examinations/Engineering-Syllabus https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Individual-Registrants/How-...
- justshowpost 5y agoI'm curios if OSSU's self-taught is more self-taught than typical CS course from other Coursera partner universities. I took several courses there (mainly from Duke) and I would not call it self-taught because instructor's role in the process was quite gross.