The Big Computer Science Challenge

In the coming 365 days, I begin with what I call ‘The Big Computer Science Challenge.’ This challenge consists of me studying the whole 4-year MIT curriculum for computer science. And to make it slightly harder, I will be doing so without attending any classes.

Why? Well, to be frank, computers have always fascinated me. These mighty machines communicate with a secret language: algorithms. From the finance industry to Facebook, and from social media to regular media, algorithms have become the go-to secret language that underlies most of our society. 

The most substantial transformations on our planet are being created in code. Furthermore, the rapid development in artificial intelligence will enable computers to understand what it means to be human.

Enough of the poetry and big statements about ‘transformations’ and ‘human-like machines,’ computer science is also immensely practical. Empires have been build and revolutions sparked because of code.

I’ve always wanted to speak that language to perfection. But, I don’t want to invest the money and time to sit locked up in a classroom (I am doing that already 10% of my time).  

No instead, I’m starting this experiment because I want to demonstrate that learning doesn’t require acceptance boards, excellent SAT scores, racking up thousands of dollars in debt, or most of all the 4-year ( I mean, 4 years is a long time!) pace most students believe is required to master and understand a subject.

But how about failure? That’s definitely a possibility—people a lot brighter than me fight through immense workloads at institutions like MIT. And I’m striving to study the same material at 4x the speed, without the benefit of professors and with the responsibility to run two companies.

What I can promise is to share what I discover with you. Listed below are the 33 classes I’ll be studying. For each course, I’ll write the final exam so you can compare my answers to the MIT official solutions. But more importantly, I’ll also share any failures, so you can be sure I’m not overlooking my mistakes.

COURSES: 33

  1. Single variable calculus
  2. Multi variable calculus
  3. Differential equations
  4. Physics I – Classical Mechanics
  5. Physics II – Electromagnetism
  6. Introduction to EE and CS I
  7. Principles of chemical science
  8. Introduction to biology
  9. Introduction to EE and CS II
  10. Mathematics for Computer Science
  11. introduction to algorithms
  12. Linear Algebra
  13. Probabilistic systems analysis
  14. Circuit and electronics
  15. Design and analysis of algorithms
  16. artificial intelligence
  17. Signals and systems
  18. Computation structures
  19. Logic I
  20. Principles of microeconomics
  21. Computer systems and engineering
  22. Electromagnetics and applications
  23. Principles of macro economics
  24. Logic II
  25. Intro to Comm.m control and signals
  26. Modal logic
  27. Industrial organization
  28. government regulation of industry
  29. Economics of education
  30. Elements of software construction
  31. Machine vision
  32. Computer graphics
  33. Theory of computation

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