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 fourteen 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, containers, CI/CD, IaC, the enterprise estate.
14. The Craft & Career — Git internals, testing, debugging, communication, the career ladder.

Start here: 1.1 — The Physics of Computation.