Computer Science Curriculum in 1000 YouTube Videos

Re:Computer Science Curriculum in 1000 YouTube Videos by ryandrake on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @05:13PM (#25754665)

I guess I have different thoughts about what the basics are. I would advocate to start with assembly, but I’m biased because I started with assembly. Things like what is memory? What is a register? What is the Program Counter? What (really) is the call stack and how does it work in memory? Fetch-decode-execute? Jumps, conditional branches, loops. Address modes.

If you know these things, then you know how the computer actually works, and a lot of the mystery of C is behind you already.

Then you can start introducing stuff that’s built on top of it all like types, if statements, pointers... build the building from foundation up, don’t start on the second floor and tell the student not to go downstairs yet.

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Re:Computer Science Curriculum in 1000 YouTube Videos by esoterica on Wednesday January 13, 2021 @12:58AM (#25758732)

That's not a good way to teach someone to code and there's a reason why absolutely no curriculum on the planet does it that way. If you're teaching someone how to operate a car you start by showing them which pedal is the gas and which is the brake, not by explaining to them how a differential works. The pedagogical basics and the lowest level system primitives are not the same thing.

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Re:Computer Science Curriculum in 1000 YouTube Videos by lostcolony on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:10PM (#25755993)

Bottom up vs top down. A lot of people benefit from a top down approach, especially those who haven't already decided they want to heavily invest in the subject.

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