M.A.T.R.I.X

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Volume ITechnology

Volume I — Technology ​

Computer Science and Software Engineering, from the physics of a single transistor to distributed systems, AI engineering, and the craft of the profession. This is the spine of M.A.T.R.I.X: fourteen parts, each building on the last, each ending with a revision sheet and a capstone challenge.

You can read straight through, or drop into any part that pulls you.

The fifteen parts ​

  1. Foundations of Computation — how sand computes: switches, logic, binary, the CPU, memory, the theory and information at the base of everything. In progress.
  2. Operating Systems — processes, threads, scheduling, memory, files, the kernel.
  3. Languages, Compilers & Runtimes — source to execution; JavaScript/V8, TypeScript, Node internals, a comparative tour.
  4. Data Structures & Algorithms — the problem-solving spine, pattern by pattern.
  5. Networking & the Web — layers, IP, TCP, DNS, HTTP, TLS, real-time protocols.
  6. Frontend Engineering — browser internals, HTML/CSS, React, rendering, performance.
  7. Databases & Storage — relational theory, SQL, storage engines, transactions, NoSQL, caching.
  8. Security, Identity & Cryptography — crypto, TLS, OAuth/OIDC/SAML/SSO, app & infra security.
  9. Software Design (LLD) — clean code, SOLID, patterns, API design, the Node/Express playbook.
  10. Distributed Systems & HLD — scaling, consistency, consensus, messaging, reliability.
  11. System Design Case Studies — URL shortener to video platform, with decision ledgers.
  12. AI & ML Engineering — from perceptrons to transformers, RAG, agents, fine-tuning, MLOps.
  13. Cloud, DevOps & Infrastructure — the cloud model, cloud networking, compute and storage, Azure, CI/CD, IaC, the enterprise estate.
  14. Containers: Docker & Kubernetes — why containers exist, how the kernel builds one, Docker from image to Compose, Kubernetes from first cluster to troubleshooting, AKS in production, and how to explain it all to someone else.
  15. The Craft & Career — Git internals, debugging, performance, communication, the career ladder.

Start here: 1.1 — The Physics of Computation.