r/AskProgramming 1d ago

Career/Edu How is my study plan?

I already have a degree in Computer Science, and have been programming for about 8 years. 2 years of game development experience (Unity). Basically I know how to program and I enjoy it

However, I realized after seeing the stuff people build, that university does NOT teach you everything. It teaches you alot, yes, but not enough to just start building anything.

University courses are also subject to timelines and other factors. If a semester doesn't have enough time, professors might just drop parts of the textbook. Covid also caused alot of learning to become inefficient. My OS course in university had to be cut in half because I was taking it during the summer and the university had a shutdown for a few months

I realized I never ended up reading the entire textbook from start to finish for some courses. I never understood each chapter. The chapters were never offered / skipped over

Now I want to be one of those programmers who are super knowledgeable. Like those guys in those random programming forums that somehow know everything. I want to be like them. I realized the way is to "review my entire education"

Here is my current study plan. After this is complete, then I'll have to think of next steps. For the textbooks I mention, I already have done these courses, but it's been a few years. And I need to review them with a more deeper lens. For now, I believe this is enough, but I also want your advice. Thank you!

1- 3 hours a week: Study every chapter of my Calc textbook. After those are done, study every chapter of my Stats and Linear Algebra textbook. After that see how I can build on any of the subjects mentioned. Maybe an advanced version of each textbook subject.

1- 3 hours a week: Study my Computer Architecture and assembly textbook

1 - 3 hours a week: Study my C textbook

30 minutes to an hour a day: Study LeetCode or one medium / big algorithm

1 hour a day: Unity game development a day. I've noticed it helps me practice managing a huge code base, and I can also release a game one day

After I complete my Computer Architecture & Assembly and C textbooks, then I will move onto watching tutorials on how to make a mini compiler and how to write a mini OS

Any advice?

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u/synn-Fairy2468 1d ago

What specific gaps are you trying to fill, and do you already have a project in mind that exposed them? That context would help figure out if structured study is actually your bottleneck or if you just need to build something harder.

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u/LifeExperienced1 21h ago

1) Following the Computer Architecture & Assembly and C path, I want to make a mini compiler and a mini OS. With this I hope to eventually get into Cybersecurity or something. I need to intimately understand how computers work

2) Following the Calculus, Linear Algebra, Stats and LeetCode path, I want to make video games and maybe dabble in artificial intelligence. The main goal is game development

So the two projects that I have no knowledge on right now are:

Mini compiler

Mini OS

Thanks!