Compare
cracked.guide vs Teach Yourself CS
Teach Yourself CS (teachyourselfcs.com) recommends one book and one lecture series for each of nine core subjects, about 100 to 200 hours each. cracked.guide takes two of those ideas, compilers and algorithms, and turns them into one dated schedule with checks. Teach Yourself CS is the better map of the whole field; cracked.guide is a deeper, scheduled route through part of it.
At a glance
| Compared | Teach Yourself CS | cracked.guide |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Nine subjects, each with a recommended book and video lectures | A dated 145-week path: Crafting Interpreters, then TAOCP Vols 1 to 4B, with NeetCode 150 and a Play track of programming games |
| Time | 100 to 200 hours per subject, per the guide | About 8 to 12 hours a week for 145 weeks (or half pace, 290) |
| Cost | Free guide; some books cost money | Free site; books and games extra (Crafting Interpreters is free online) |
| Audience | Working programmers without a CS background | Programmers who want depth (Week 0 for those newer to it) |
| Structure | A reading list in a suggested order | A date on every week, a guide for every chapter and section |
| Checks | None built in | Book test suite on GitHub Actions, LeetCode profile, MIX programs graded in the browser |
Overlap
Teach Yourself CS recommends Crafting Interpreters for languages and compilers, the same book cracked.guide uses for its first 28 weeks. For algorithms it recommends Skiena's The Algorithm Design Manual, a practical, broad book; cracked.guide uses Knuth instead, which is slower and far deeper.
Which to pick
Pick Teach Yourself CS if you want to cover architecture, operating systems, networking, databases and distributed systems too. Its subject list is excellent and its advice is sound. Pick cracked.guide if you want someone to tell you exactly what to do this week, and to verify it, for the compilers-and-algorithms core. Many people will want both, in either order.
Questions
How long does Teach Yourself CS take?
The guide suggests 100 to 200 hours per subject across nine subjects, so roughly 900 to 1,800 hours.
Does Teach Yourself CS include Knuth?
Not as its main algorithms book; it recommends The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven Skiena.
Sources
A free, dated 145-week path: two interpreters, then all of Knuth.
Every week has a date and a reading guide, and the work is checked: the book's own tests, your LeetCode profile, MIX programs in the browser.