Vector64 Home Education Computer Science Pages (Under Construction)

This page contains general Computer Science learning materials and references to materials and websites that you may find useful for Computer Science studies.

Many students go into a study of Computer Science without a clear understanding of what it is they will be studying. Many teenagers that have done some programming think that Computer Science is about programming and that programming is mainly what the degree is about. They get somewhat of a rude shock when they encounter a lot of mathematics on the way to completing the degree. But this may be common with degree programs in general. How many freshmen have actually looked at the degree requirements for their programs and read the course descriptions for the requirements for their majors? And even if they've read the descriptions, do they really know what they are going to be studying two or three years later?

ArsDigita University

ArsDigita University was a one-year Computer Science program at MIT. It ran for eleven months before having to shut down. But they saved a lot of course information including a lot of lecture videos which can be downloaded and viewed from the site. I've gone through a few of the discrete mathematics videos and found the quality level to be very high. Note that you can order a DVD set of their course materials for $75 which may be far more cost-effective than downloading the materials.

Their course website is at http://www.aduni.org/.

Courses that have videos and/or other course materials:
  1. Math for Computer Science - Tara Holm
  2. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - Holly Yanco (lecture notes, lecture videos, problem sets, exams). There are two interesting links to a set of 1985 video lectures of the course by the same name by Hal Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman. The textbook is also available online though not for download.
  3. Discrete Math - Shai Simonson (lecture videos, lecture notes, problem sets, exams)
  4. How Computers Work - Gill Pratt. This covers computer organization and assembler.
  5. Object-oriented Program Design - David Goddeau
  6. Algorithms - Shai Simonson
  7. Systems - Luis Rodriguez
  8. Web Applications - Philip Greenspun
  9. Theory of Computation - Shai Simonson
  10. Artificial Intelligence - Patrick Winston
  11. Unix Workshop
  12. Database Management Systems - Ravi Jasuja
  13. Applied Probability - Tina Kapur

Video Resources

There are some decent resources out there for a few courses normally taught in computer science programs and I thought that I'd link them here for those interested in studying on their own with lectures or those looking to get an idea of what an undergrad computer science course looks like.

Stanford Resources

Basically course materials in text form.

Stanford CS Education Library

Book Resources


Updated May 9, 2007.
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