---
title: "Study the fundamentals"
date: 2025-04-21
description: "The questions worth being able to answer, from computer architecture to containers, and what to read for each."
tags: ["career","learning","programming"]
lang: en
source: https://www.lincoli.me/articles/study-the-fundamentals/
author: "Lincoli Xavier"
---

A series of questions worth being able to answer, and the material that answers them. Originally published in parts.

## The machine and the network

- How does computer architecture work?
- [How does the internet work?](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/network-layer/how-does-the-internet-work/)
- [How does the HTTP protocol work?](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/Overview)

Required reading:

- *The Pragmatic Programmer*
- *Refactoring*
- *Extreme Programming*
- *Working Effectively with Legacy Code*
- *The Mythical Man-Month*
- *Designing Data-Intensive Applications*
- *Algorithms*
- *Design Patterns*

## Data structures and algorithms

Data structures: why does the way something is stored completely change the way it is found?

Algorithms: knowing *what* to do, or *how* to do it? Would you rather have a fast solution or a correct one? What happens if you repeat the same simple action a million times?

- How does a programming language work?

There are a good few months of study in this section alone.

## Databases, version control and types

- How does a database work? (*Database Internals*, *How Relational Databases Work*)
- How does Git work?
- How does a type system work? ([awesome-type-theory](https://github.com/lincolixavier/awesome-type-theory))

## Infrastructure

- [How does IaaS work?](https://azure.microsoft.com/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-iaas)
- [How does PaaS work?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_as_a_service)
- [How does a VM work?](https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/virtualization/what-is-a-virtual-machine)
- [How does a container work?](https://medium.com/@kuninoto/how-does-docker-really-work-under-the-hood-a-dive-into-dockers-internals-2fef63f7c9bb)

---

Do not stop studying.