I haven’t written for some time now. Sorry about that! In that last post I talked about browser extensions, and to say the least I got a bit carried away with making my browser extension. I’ll be posting more regularly now that I’m done with it!

One more piece of news: I’m officially launching Cap! That’s the browser extension I’ve been working on! It’s going on producthunt today, and it would be awesome if you could show me some love and give it some upvotes!

A Practical Guide to Web Extensions in Firefox and Chrome

Recently I've had a serious problem with wasting my time on watching Youtube, Netflix, HBOMax, sports, and other brainless entertainment. I love watching the stuff otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. After spending way too much time on it I decided that I need to do something about it. But before I do something about it I want to shoutout Lovecraft Country on HBO, because the show was great. If you like horror/spooky/mystery stuff check it out.

If you've been following Learning Computations you'll know that I installed Arch Linux recently, and talked about all the stuff I learned in the process. While configuring Arch it really inspired me to make my own stuff after seeing just how many programs there where for the same thing. It made me think why don't I create a tailor made solution for my own problem. So I did. I made (truth be told I'm not completely done) a browser extension to fix my problem of not being able to stop myself from watching brainless entertainment.

In this weeks edition of learning computations we're going to looking at building web extensions for Chrome and Firefox!

This is the second article in a series called learn a bunch of shit while installing Arch Linux. This week we'll be talking about the boot process. Originally I was going to cover networking as well, but we won't be able to get to it this time.

As I was digging into the boot process for Arch I quickly realized just how much shit there is to understand. I mean there's just way more information than I ever imagined on booting. I did my best to understand the boot process, but I'm not an expert. So the plan is to do an overview of the boot process, and for those who want to learn more I've included resources that'll let you do that.

Alright let's jump into it.

The Boot Process under UEFI

You'll notice that this editions is a bit different than the others I've written. I though I'd do the explaining this time instead of just giving out resources. I hope you enjoy it!

This week we'll be looking at the process of installing Arch Linux and learning a bunch of stuff along the way. If you don't know what Arch is here's how their about page describes it

Arch Linux is an independently developed, x86-64 general purpose GNU/Linux distribution versatile enough to suit any role. Development focuses on simplicity, minimalism, and code elegance. Arch is installed as a minimal base system, configured by the user upon which their own ideal environment is assembled by installing only what is required or desired for their unique purposes. GUI configuration utilities are not officially provided, and most system configuration is performed from the shell by editing simple text files. Arch strives to stay bleeding edge, and typically offers the latest stable versions of most software...

Arch Linux about page

I wanted to try something a bit different this week, and share some essays that influenced my perspective on software engineering/programming. I've always liked hearing different, well thought out perspectives, and incorporating the best parts into how I think. I hope you get something out of these essays as they've been useful tools for me.

One last thing. I'm starting to explore different formats, and topics for Learning Computations. If you have any suggestions please email learningcomputations@gmail.com and I'll take a look! Next week it's back to the regularly scheduled programming.

I hope you enjoy this different issue of Learning Computations!

Resources

DNS

DNS stands for domain name system. It's the thing that turns www.google.com into something that a computer can actually understand. An IP address.

This weeks edition of learning computations gives you resources to understand DNS in breadth and depth

Free

Design Patterns

In software engineering, a software design pattern is a general, reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem within a given context in software design. It is not a finished design that can be transformed directly into source or machine code. Rather, it is a description or template for how to solve a problem that can be used in many different situations. Design patterns are formalized best practices that the programmer can use to solve common problems when designing an application or system. - Wikipedia Software Design patterns

This weeks edition of Learning Computations gives you resources to learn design patterns

College vs Self Learning

OAuth 2.0

Have you ever tried to use an API that belongs to a large corporation like Spotify, Twitter, or Facebook? If you have you’ve most certainly run into OAuth 2.0. The first time I saw it like most I was pretty confused, and I didn’t really understand it. Eventually I came to grips with it a bit, but never really intuitively understood it. I would just google “why isn’t x working” and “this thing failed what does that mean?” until I got things working. It wasn’t until I found the resources in this weeks edition of Learning Computations that I really understood how things worked.

This weeks edition of Learning Computations gives you resources that make OAuth 2.0 actually make sense :)

CSS

CSS is that thing you can’t seem to ever get working exactly how you want it. Jokes aside CSS stands for cascading style sheets, and it’s what allows web developers to customize the appearance of their webpages.

CS Degree VS Self Learning

Generally CS undergrad core curriculum doesn’t dedicate time to CSS. Certain universities might have a course for it or mention it briefly in a course, but it’s mostly self taught. Obviously because of this there isn’t a whole lot of value in analyzing the two groups here. For that reason lets jump into the resources.

Data Structures + Algorithms

A big part of programming is organizing your data so that you can store and retrieve it effectively. This is what data structures allow us to do. They're the lifeblood of programming. Almost every program written has given thought to how do I store this? How do I retrieve this? This is why at most universities there are whole classes dedicated to data structures, this is why when programmers go to job interviews they ask them about data structures. So much of what a programmer does depends on how they organize their data.

It's hard to talk about data structures without mentioning algorithms, because they're so intertwined. Algorithms In general are instructions on how to do something. Algorithms say things like "this is how you sort data" and "this is how you find the shortest path". Interestingly enough there are many ways to do something, and the way you do it can effect your program dramatically.

This weeks edition of Learning Computations gives you top notch resources on Data Structures and Algorithms.

Databases

Databases have been and will be an important topic in computer science and more importantly the real world. They aren't going anywhere, they're fundamental to the survival of most businesses, and they're crucial to understanding how any system works.

CS degree vs self learning

Every university is a bit different, but most university's fall into two categories either having their undergrads take an optional database course, or a course that's an overview of SQL and database concepts. Universities that require undergrads to build databases are definitely in the minority. In general this means that self learners with solid fundamentals rival people with degrees!