Roadmap › 0. Fundamentals › Step 1
CPU
How Computers Work — CPU, Memory, OS, Processes and Threads
What happens inside a computer when your program runs — bits and bytes, the CPU and instruction cycle, the memory hierarchy (registers, cache, RAM, disk), stack vs heap, virtual memory and paging, the operating system, processes and threads, scheduling, concurrency problems, compilation vs interpretation, and how all of it shows up in .NET and SQL Server.
Interview priority:★ Must know High priority — asked in almost every interview, learn firstMedium asked regularlyLow good to know
Module 1: Data and the CPU
- 1.Bits, bytes, number systems and encodingBasic ★ Must know
- 2.How the CPU executes instructionsBasic ★ Must know
Module 2: Memory
- 3.The memory hierarchy — registers, cache, RAM, diskBasic ★ Must know
- 4.Stack vs heap — how program memory is laid outBasic ★ Must know
- 5.Virtual memory, paging and memory management by the OSIntermediate ★ Must know
- 6.How memory is managed: manual, reference counting and garbage collectionIntermediate ★ Must know
Module 3: Operating System, Processes and Threads
- 7.What the operating system doesBasic ★ Must know
- 8.Processes vs threads, scheduling and context switchesIntermediate ★ Must know
- 9.Concurrency problems — race conditions, deadlocks and how to avoid themIntermediate ★ Must know
Module 4: From Code to Execution
- 10.Compilers, interpreters, JIT and AOTIntermediate Medium
- 11.Putting it together — what happens when your .NET API handles a requestIntermediate Medium
Next course in the roadmap: 2. Data Structures & Algorithms — How They Work Inside →