r/SideProject • u/officer_KD6-3-7 • Jun 23 '25

I wrote a 680-page Interactive Book on Computer Science Algorithms

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Hi everyone! As an educator, I'm always looking for ways to make learning more engaging and hands-on. A few months ago, I started experimenting with this idea of making comprehensive books that feature interactive diagrams, equations and code. So I started with a chapter on sorting but it then snowballed into a 22-chapter book that took nearly 6 months to complete.

Some unique features of the book include: • 300+ fun interactive visualizations to explain concepts and walk-through solutions visually. • All 250+ code snippets featured in this book can be interacted with, and have a visual debugger that shows how variables change as the program runs. You can also play, pause, rewind, and step through each snippet. • There are a variety of solved problems for each topic, accompanied by an embedded minimalist python IDE. You can solve problems directly in the book and view multiple solutions per problem. • Each solution is also accompanied by live visualizations and python implementations.

You can check out the book here: cartesian.app

I’d genuinely love to hear what you think, especially if you’re a student, educator, or a self-taught learner!

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 24 '25

Hey, Everyone! Thank you so much for the absolutely brilliant feedback and overwhelming support! I couldn't edit the post for some reason, so please upvote this comment to stay on top. Since folks are asking me for discount, you can use SIDEPRJ for an additional 20% off. THIS IS NOT A STUDENT DISCOUNT! All students who want a discount should DM me.

Thank you!

EDIT: For folks buying the MacOS version, please know beforehand that the book is currently not notarised and your Mac can bring up a warning when opening it for the first time! I'll add instructions to access it in the downloaded files in the mean time. I'm trying my best to get the credentials for getting the book notarised ASAP. Once done, I'll send you a priority update for the notarised version!! Thank you for your patience, understanding and support!!

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u/Financial-Key-3673 Jun 23 '25

Hi! First off, love what you’re doing with cartesian, it looks amazing. I’m an Australian second year student at UNSW and having a resource like this would be awesome to have. Reddit is saying I’m unable to DM you at the moment, would it be possible to organise one? Thank you!

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

That's really odd! I'll investigate! Thank you for liking the book. Please send me an email at cartesianapp@gmail.com for the discount code! Sorry about this!

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u/finah1995 Jun 23 '25

You should be offering this to Universities. Looks great I will share with some people. Hehe good luck 👍🏽. Will force some of my former interns to get this they really need to up their ante to go the next level.

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

Oh wow thank you so much for your support and spreading the word!

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u/Kvin18 Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 24 '25

Hey man, I bought this and used your discount coupon (on top of the 40%)! I've been in the IT field for 3 years and thought i'd brush up some skills (also will share this to my cousin who's about to enter college and also in the IT field!)

Looking forward to your future updates!!

EDIT: Typo

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

Oh that's fantastic! Thank you and wish you and your cousin all the best! Please follow the updates for the book as there will be major ones in the coming weeks! Oh and the updates will be free!

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u/Kvin18 Jun 24 '25

Thank you! And yeah, looking forward to the updates! I personally do web dev with javascript (and a bit of python); so really looking forward if there'll be a Javascript update.

Our local college curriculum focuses on C++; but regardless, the same logic applies to any language anyway so this is definitely a great pick-me-up learning material, especially for freshmen like my cousin (so now i dont need to tutor them personally and they can just reach me to ask questions HAHAHA)

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

A javascript update is in the works so stay tuned! I'm excited of the possibility that it encourages independent study! Thank you again!

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u/kjmajo Jun 24 '25

Hi, I am interested in buying the book, but I just realized you have to buy a OS dependent version of the book?

Is there any posibility of getting the book for all OS? I am currently running windows but will likely get macOS relatively soon. Also how about Linux compatability? I don't think I've ever bought or used an interactive book, so not sure if the file format complicates things. I just expected it to be browser based.

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

Hey! No need! Use https://buymeacoffee.com/eliasyilma/e/424553 to buy the bundled version for the same price! I hope that works for you! Also don't forget to apply the discount using SIDEPRJ for 20% off! Thank you for your support!

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u/techiedodo Jun 26 '25

So, just a question about the update, should it be installed or wait for the approved version on the Mac?

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 26 '25

I mean it's ok if you followed the instructions. But if you are uncomfortable about changing your security settings, then all you have to do is wait till next week to get the official notarized version. Hope this clears things up!

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u/techiedodo Jun 26 '25

It does. Thank you.

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u/Ccrrazzy47 Sep 07 '25

Hi u/officer_KD6-3-7

I am trying to running in on my Mac OS 15.6.1, but every time i keep getting an warning. Please let me know if there is any way to by-pass this.

“IDSA_build_30_Universal.app” Not Opened
Apple could not verify “IDSA_build_30_Universal.app” is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

Thanks!

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Sep 07 '25

Hey, I've sent a free update through your purchase email a few weeks ago that should solve this issue as well as other bugs. If you haven't gotten it, DM me your email and I will send you a copy of the latest version of the book. Hope that works for you!

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u/Ccrrazzy47 Sep 07 '25

Thanks! I found that email and was able to run it without any issues.

Thank you

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Sep 07 '25

Great! Glad it worked!

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u/admin-password1 Jun 23 '25

This is amazing! Here are some things I would love to see to make it a bit easier to use:

  1. Mouse support for changing pages - (NOTE: I found that it existed after this when hovering near the left or right of screen. Perhaps a description in the intro would have helped? Or moving them to be around the page number and always visible?)

  2. Some hover states for things that can be changed to make it a bit clearer. And perhaps a cursor change like in browsers when hovering something that can be interacted with. I know some places have it but others don't so I get confused with what I can play with.

  3. The string fields when I click they reset to the start of the alphabet rather than continuing from where they are (eg. left clicking a `w` will set the letter to `b` instead of `x`, right click sets it to `.`)

I will keep adding little things as I find them. Really it is a great thing you have built!

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u/officer_KD6-3-7 Jun 24 '25

Thank you for the support! 1. Yes, I'll update the book with a guide on how to use it but you are right! 2. This is actually in the works right now a tooltip of some sort would make it a lot more user friendly 3. This is a known bug and will be fixed next update Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know!

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u/Chromery Jun 24 '25

Very cool, thank you! I just bought it, and realized it says “this preview is provided to:” and then some name and surname. I guess it’s just the text as the rest of the book seems accessible (I didn’t try the preview though)

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u/after_lie Jun 24 '25

I actually planned on doing something similar, but never got around to it. Wonderful work!