Ask HN: Most effective path to become a solid systems practitioner? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Most effective path to become a solid systems practitioner?

16 pointsfizwhiz6 comments

Context: I'm a mid-tier dev at a BigCo, and I was never classically trained as a computer scientist. Lately, I've been interested in problem spaces where having a deeper systems knowledge (think databases, streaming systems, operating systems, distributed systems etc.) is incredibly beneficial. I haven't found a straight forward path to learn all this short of maybe doing a Masters degree.

Is there a set/sequence of resources/MOOCs that HN could recommendation on getting ramped up on these topics. I understand that it will likely be a multi-month journey at the very least, but I'm tired of hitting a ceiling on what I'm able to contribute to due to my lack of knowledge.

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Starting to feel like a parrot since I’ve recommended this book a few times already on HN but Designing Data Intensive Applications [0] is a great starting resource. I’m not affiliated in any way just a happy reader.

[0] https://dataintensive.net/

Click on 'old video' to see the lectures, this covers x86 arch from a programmer's perspective, such as writing cache friendly code http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~./213/schedule.html Database lectures here including a really good advanced playlist on building your own dbms https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHnBsf2rH-K7pn09rb3qvkA/pla... From there the book Programming Rust is a great book about systems programming. There's also an OS class https://www.rust-class.org/pages/classes.html or you can try taking some CS theory classes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnu2XymDtORV--qG2uG5eQ/pla...

Andrew S Tanenbaum has a Distributed Systems and OS book too that most universities still use.

That Rust OS class is from 2014, and so was pre 1.0 and therefore near useless today. Phil Opp’s work is preferred, for sure.

I would learn AWS. Their GUI and the abstraction available in their PaaS services will allow you to build really cool “distributed” application without needing to know all the ins and outs of say Linux and Sambda and Kerberos that you would typically need. It would be a good introduction.

EDIT: and to learn AWS of course there is https://acloud.guru. Strange name of a site but def considered the best for learning AWS. I would focus on the AWS Solutions Architect courses if you need something to start with.

Have you tried this ? https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer

imo the best way is to look at what other's have built. Here's some of my favorite talks that go from 0 users to millions.

Dropbox - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE4gwstWhmc

Instagram - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNA2C1vC8FQ

Slack (bonus. not as applicable but good reminder of why initial architecture does matter) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE9c9AZe-DY

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