Open Source Society University

Path to a free self-taught education in Computer Science!

Curriculum

• Core CS
  • Core programming
  • Core math
  • CS Tools
  • Core systems
  • Core theory
  • Core security
  • Core applications
  • Core ethics
• Advanced CS
  • Advanced programming
  • Advanced systems
  • Advanced theory
  • Advanced information security
  • Advanced math
• Final project

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Core CS

Core Programming

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Systematic Program Design	13 weeks	8-10 hours/week	none	chat: part 1 / part 2
Class-based Program Design	13 weeks	5-10 hours/week	Systematic Program Design, High School Math	chat
Programming Languages, Part A	5 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Systematic Program Design (Hear instructor)	chat
Programming Languages, Part B	3 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Programming Languages, Part A	chat
Programming Languages, Part C	3 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Programming Languages, Part B	chat
Object-Oriented Design	13 weeks	5-10 hours/week	Class Based Program Design	chat
Software Architecture	4 weeks	2-5 hours/week	Object Oriented Design	chat

Core math

Courses	Duration	Effort	Notes	Prerequisites	Discussion
Calculus 1A: Differentiation (alternative)	13 weeks	6-10 hours/week	The alternate covers this and the following 2 courses	high school math	chat
Calculus 1B: Integration	13 weeks	5-10 hours/week	-	Calculus 1A	chat
Calculus 1C: Coordinate Systems & Infinite Series	6 weeks	5-10 hours/week	-	Calculus 1B	chat
Mathematics for Computer Science (alternative)	13 weeks	5 hours/week	2015/2019 solutions 2010 solutions 2005 solutions.	Calculus 1C	chat

CS Tools

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education	2 weeks	12 hours/week	-	chat

Core systems

Courses	Duration	Effort	Additional Text / Assignments	Prerequisites	Discussion
Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: From Nand to Tetris (alternative)	6 weeks	7-13 hours/week	-	C-like programming language	chat
Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: Nand to Tetris Part II	6 weeks	12-18 hours/week	-	one of these programming languages, From Nand to Tetris Part I	chat
Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces	10-12 weeks	6-10 hours/week	-	Nand to Tetris Part II	chat
Computer Networking: a Top-Down Approach	8 weeks	4–12 hours/week	Wireshark Labs	algebra, probability, basic CS	chat

Core theory

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms	4 weeks	4-8 hours/week	any programming language, Mathematics for Computer Science	chat
Graph Search, Shortest Paths, and Data Structures	4 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms	chat
Greedy Algorithms, Minimum Spanning Trees, and Dynamic Programming	4 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Graph Search, Shortest Paths, and Data Structures	chat
Shortest Paths Revisited, NP-Complete Problems and What To Do About Them	4 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Greedy Algorithms, Minimum Spanning Trees, and Dynamic Programming	chat

Core security

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Cybersecurity Fundamentals	8 weeks	10-12 hours/week	-	chat
Principles of Secure Coding	4 weeks	4 hours/week	-	chat
Identifying Security Vulnerabilities	4 weeks	4 hours/week	-	chat

Choose one of the following:

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Identifying Security Vulnerabilities in C/C++Programming	4 weeks	5 hours/week	-	chat
Exploiting and Securing Vulnerabilities in Java Applications	4 weeks	5 hours/week	-	chat

Core applications

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Databases: Modeling and Theory	2 weeks	10 hours/week	core programming	chat
Databases: Relational Databases and SQL	2 weeks	10 hours/week	core programming	chat
Databases: Semistructured Data	2 weeks	10 hours/week	core programming	chat
Machine Learning	11 weeks	9 hours/week	Basic coding	chat
Computer Graphics (alternative)	6 weeks	12 hours/week	C++ or Java, linear algebra	chat
Software Engineering: Introduction	6 weeks	8-10 hours/week	Core Programming, and a sizable project	chat

Core ethics

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Ethics, Technology and Engineering	9 weeks	2 hours/week	none	chat
Introduction to Intellectual Property	4 weeks	2 hours/week	none	chat
Data Privacy Fundamentals	3 weeks	3 hours/week	none	chat

Advanced CS

Advanced programming

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites
Parallel Programming	4 weeks	6-8 hours/week	Scala programming
Compilers	9 weeks	6-8 hours/week	none
Introduction to Haskell	14 weeks	-	-
Learn Prolog Now! (alternative)*	12 weeks	-	-
Software Debugging	8 weeks	6 hours/week	Python, object-oriented programming
Software Testing	4 weeks	6 hours/week	Python, programming experience

Advanced systems

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Notes
Computation Structures 1: Digital Circuits alternative 1 alternative 2	10 weeks	6 hours/week	Nand2Tetris II	Alternate links contain all 3 courses.
Computation Structures 2: Computer Architecture	10 weeks	6 hours/week	Computation Structures 1
Computation Structures 3: Computer Organization	10 weeks	6 hours/week	Computation Structures 2

Advanced theory

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites
Theory of Computation (alternative)	13 weeks	10 hours/week	Mathematics for Computer Science, logic, algorithms
Computational Geometry	16 weeks	8 hours/week	algorithms, C++
Game Theory	8 weeks	3 hours/week	mathematical thinking, probability, calculus

Advanced Information Security

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites
Web Security Fundamentals	5 weeks	4-6 hours/week	understanding basic web technologies
Security Governance & Compliance	3 weeks	3 hours/week	-
Digital Forensics Concepts	3 weeks	2-3 hours/week	Core Security
Secure Software Development: Requirements, Design, and Reuse	7 weeks	1-2 hours/week	Core Programming and Core Security
Secure Software Development: Implementation	7 weeks	1-2 hours/week	Secure Software Development: Requirements, Design, and Reuse
Secure Software Development: Verification and More Specialized Topics	7 weeks	1-2 hours/week	Secure Software Development: Implementation

Advanced math

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites	Discussion
Essence of Linear Algebra	-	-	high school math	chat
Linear Algebra	14 weeks	12 hours/week	corequisite: Essence of Linear Algebra	chat
Introduction to Numerical Methods	14 weeks	12 hours/week	Linear Algebra	chat
Introduction to Formal Logic	10 weeks	4-8 hours/week	Set Theory	chat
Probability	15 weeks	5-10 hours/week	Differentiation and Integration	chat

Final project

Courses	Duration	Effort	Prerequisites
Fullstack Open	12 weeks	15 hours/week	programming
Modern Robotics (Specialization)	26 weeks	2-5 hours/week	freshman-level physics, linear algebra, calculus, linear ordinary differential equations
Data Mining (Specialization)	30 weeks	2-5 hours/week	machine learning
Big Data (Specialization)	30 weeks	3-5 hours/week	none
Internet of Things (Specialization)	30 weeks	1-5 hours/week	strong programming
Cloud Computing (Specialization)	30 weeks	2-6 hours/week	C++ programming
Data Science (Specialization)	43 weeks	1-6 hours/week	none
Functional Programming in Scala (Specialization)	29 weeks	4-5 hours/week	One year programming experience
Game Design and Development with Unity 2020 (Specialization)	6 months	5 hours/week	programming, interactive design

Congratulations

Code of conduct

OSSU's code of conduct.

How to show your progress

Fork the GitHub repo into your own GitHub account and put ✅ next to the stuff you've completed as you complete it. This can serve as your kanban board and will be faster to implement than any other solution (giving you time to spend on the courses).

Team

• Eric Douglas: founder of OSSU
• Josh Hanson: lead technical maintainer
• Waciuma Wanjohi: lead academic maintainer
• Contributors