This week’s episode of FLOSS Weekly covers the online course Nand2Tetris, which helps students build a computer from scratch, writing their own hardware description language (HDL) and software.
Host Jonathan Bennett talks with Shimon Schocken, one of the creators of the course.
At the end of the course, students simulate floating point math, a full Linux OS kernel and other interesting tasks, and can realistically go on to build a working computer of their own if they desire.
The course is available via edX and is free to audit, with options to pay for certification.
There are also versions of the course that have been modified and taught at various schools and institutions around the world.
One major critique of the course is that the simplicity of the CPU architecture pits efficiency over functionality, and limits what students are able to accomplish in the software portion of the course.
Despite these critiques, the course is highly rated and receives overwhelmingly positive feedback from students.
It is a prequel to a similarly difficult course called “Building Embedded Systems” which is also available on edX and teaches students to build a full home automation system with internet connectivity.
