The Missing Semester of Your CS Education (2026)
2 months ago
- #shell
- #command-line
- #bash
- The class is co-taught by Anish, Jon, and Jose, ex-MIT students who started the MIT IAP class.
- Course materials and lecture recordings are freely available online; support by spreading the word.
- Motivation: Utilize more computer tools to enhance productivity, addressing gaps in CS curricula.
- Class structure: Nine 1-hour independent lectures with exercises, no office hours, feedback encouraged.
- Topic 1: The Shell - A textual interface for full computer control, available on most platforms.
- Shell basics: Commands like `date`, `echo`, `man`, `cd`, and navigating using paths (`/`, `.`, `..`).
- Shell tools: `ls`, `cat`, `sort`, `uniq`, `head`, `tail`, `grep`, `sed`, `find`, `awk`, and combining them with pipes (`|`).
- Shell scripting: Variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and strict mode (`set -euo pipefail`).
- Next steps: Automate complex tasks using shell and command-line programs.
- Exercises: Practice shell commands, scripting, and tool combinations to reinforce learning.