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First Principles

Getting Started

New to all of this? Good — every book here starts at “what problem is this even solving?” and assumes nothing. You don’t need a CS degree; you need curiosity and a willingness to build along.

Pick your first book

Section titled “Pick your first book”
  • Curious about money, crypto, or how Bitcoin works? Start with Bitcoin · Foundations. It’s the most self-contained starting point and the gateway to the Web3 Path.
  • Want to think like an engineer about big systems? Start with System Design · Foundations — it teaches a way of reasoning (tradeoffs, estimation) that everything else builds on.
  • Want to actually code, hands-on? Start with Rust · Project-First — you build real, running programs from day one. (Knowing a little programming helps here.)
  • Care about AI, or DevOps specifically? Jump straight into AI Systems or DevOps — both start from scratch too.

How to get the most out of these

Section titled “How to get the most out of these”
  • Build along. Don’t just read. Run the commands, type the code, do the worked examples. The Rust book ships runnable crates; the others have hands-on parts.
  • Use “Check your understanding.” Every lesson page ends with questions and click-to-reveal answers. If you can’t answer them, re-read before moving on.
  • Follow the why. Each page explains why before how. If a “why” doesn’t click, that’s the part to slow down on — it’s load-bearing for everything after.
  • Then pick a path and let it sequence the books for you.