Ask HN: Best CS refresher material online?

9 points by lesiki 2 years ago | 6 comments

Recently I've been looking for a good "refresher" for the CS theory I learnt at university - in particular the theoretical, slower-changing stuff that we had to learn but rarely apply in a web programming career.

What sparked it was actually an episode of University Challenge where there was a mention of Byzantine Generals - I haven't heard that mentioned in about 18 years!

Though any professional development I get from this is a bonus, my main motivation is just intellectual curiosity & the desire to re-explore these concepts that I slowly forgot through disuse over the years. As a result, material that is captivating and fun is a strong bonus.

Any books, podcasts, youtube channels, online courses HN would recommend?

runjake 2 years ago |

Skim the CS50x course?

https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/

brudgers 2 years ago |

Does it need to be the best? Or would good enough be good enough? What suits you best might not suit someone else at all. On the other hand, there are are many CS courses archived on Youtube and tons of old textbooks in circulation.

And of course, you can always buy a boxed set of TAoCP. It will probably keep you busy for awhile. Good luck.

lesiki 2 years ago | |

Sure, it's a valid nitpick.

My intended meaning was "What is your favourite CS refresher material available online", and agree that the answers will be subjective.

brudgers 2 years ago | | |

Not trying to nitpick. Trying to get you from shopping mode to doing the hard work of learning mode.

I mean here’s the BG paper: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/322186.322188