Stefan's relatively fleshed out computer science curriculum

Here's a table of the actual course per semester:

• No skipping by AP
• Stats, once. Don't make me take it so many times. Please.
• No group work till Application 2
• All autograded tests will be available for students to run locally. No hidden tests.

First class - Computer familiarity and research

(skippable by special test only)

This class covers fundamentals of a computer. This includes:

Day 1 - Computer usage basics (yes, really)

Basic Mouse Usage

Left click, right click, scroll wheel, middle click, side buttons on mice that have them.

Basic Keyboard Usage

Besides the letters, pretty much every key - notably windows key, escape, and some combos.

Basic Keyboard Shortcuts

For now probably Windows and Mac based. Start menu, spotlight, task manager, etc.

• High level differences between different operating systems
• What is a file
• What is a file system
• Practice navigating using a GUI file explorer
• Practice using context menus
• Practice controlling system settings
• Practice opening different applications
• Practice reading errors
• Practice reading documentation This one is interesting, because I think you could really get some value out of showing some error messages and then having students explain what they should google.
• Practice opening a terminal
• Practice starting applications via terminal
• Basic terminal navigation (multiple oses)
• Practice reading help text
• Text editor vs word processor
• Practice following tutorials
• Practice reading documentation to solve problems
• Inspect some websites

A secondary goal to this class is to get students to stop being afraid to try things.

Second class - Fundamentals of Programming

(skippable by special test only)

Javascript.

The editing environment would still have some form of the Typescript Language Server, so many problems caught by types will still be caught.

This class covers fundamentals of programming, and well.

• Variables
• References
• Functions
• Loops
• Control flow
• Other boolean logic
• Maps
• Lists
• Organization
• Debugging (print statements)
• Objects (as in anonymous maps)

Another class - Programming language exploration

Depends on Fundamentals of Programming class.

Another class - Computer Architecture

Depends on Fundamentals of Programming.

Assembly

Another class - Software in Computer Science

Depends on Fundamentals of Programming.

• Git (but alone)
• More GUI
• More Terminal

Another class - Low Level Programming Details

Depends on the Computer Architecture class.

C / Zig, probably.

Actually show a debugger for the first time.

Another class - Data structures

Javascript.

Depends on the Low Level Programming Details class.

Another class - OSes and Memory Security

Depends on Low Level Programming Details class.

• Syscalls
• Linux specifics
• Windows specifics

Another class - Computer Networks

Depends on Low Level Programming Details class.

Another class - Applications 1

Depends on Fundamentals of Programming. Depends on Software in Computer Science but can be taken concurrently.

• Databases
• "Web" applications

Another class - Applications 2

Depends on Applications 1

• Capstone esque "next feature" design progress based on Applications 1 project.
• Group work
• Git (but used with others)

Another class - Documentation

This class counts towards the writing requirement.

Depends on Applications 1

Another class - Performance

Depends on Data structures and Applications 1.

Another class - Application Security

Depends on Application class.

Electives

Pick 3 ish? Most things became required.

• Computer Graphics
• Compiler
• AI / etc.
• Native applications
• Mobile app
• Others I forget, maybe "deeper dives" into certain covered topics

Other required classes

• CS 2100
• CS 3100
• Linear algebra (including vector calculus)
• Calculus (2d, 3d, derivatives, integrals, series, optimization)
• Stats, once.

Haven't thought about these enough to be specific, probably never will, don't care enough.

Not necessary to be a good programmer, but necessary for the "science".

FAQ

Why Javascript for most of the classes?

For better or for worse, Javascript does the best at three qualities today:

• Coming preinstalled with nearly no way to fuck it up (a web browser)
• Powering most new written applications
• Not going anywhere anytime soon.

Almost everything besides systems level programming can be done in Javascript, effectively too. Take for example Algorithms. They can all be done to adequately affect and improve the runtime of a program in Javascript. They're not as efficient, sure, but, that's not the point. Nobody teaches best practices for implementation efficiency.

Measure performance first anyway.