In progress
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
65% complete
Learning practice
Learning
Books, courses, and technical notes I return to while moving between research and systems work.
Current
Currently learning
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In progress
Hands-On Large Language Models
40% complete
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In progress
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
30% complete
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In progress
AWS Solutions Architect Associate
20% complete
Courses
Selected courses and academic playlists
A compact list of university courses, lecture series, and academic playlists I revisit regularly.
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Course
Stanford CS 153 - Infrastructure at Scale - Winter 2025
Production-scale infrastructure, distributed systems, and reliability engineering.
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Course
Stanford CS109 Introduction to Probability for Computer Scientists I 2022 I Chris Piech
Probability foundations for machine learning, inference, and algorithmic reasoning.
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Course
Stanford EE364A Convex Optimization I Stephen Boyd I 2023
Convex analysis, duality, and optimization methods from Stephen Boyd.
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Course
Stanford AA228V I Validation of Safety Critical Systems I 2025
Methods for validating safety-critical AI and autonomous systems.
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Course
Stanford CS224N Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning I Spring 2024 I Professor Christopher Manning
Modern NLP with deep learning, transformers, and language models.
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Course
Stanford CS149 I Parallel Computing I 2023 I Kayvon Fatahalian and Kunle Olukotun
Parallel programming models, GPU execution, and performance optimization.
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Course
Stanford CS329A Series (Self-Improving AI Agents) Winter 2025
Agentic systems that improve through feedback, tools, and iteration.
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Course
Stanford CS224R Deep Reinforcement Learning
Deep reinforcement learning algorithms, exploration, and sequential decision making.
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Course
Stanford CS221: Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Techniques | Autumn 2025
Broad AI foundations covering search, reasoning, learning, and decision making.
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Course
Stanford CS336 Language Modeling from Scratch I 2025
Build and understand modern language models from first principles.
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Course
Algorithmic Game Theory (Stanford CS364A, Fall 2013)
Strategic behavior, auctions, equilibria, and mechanism design.
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Course
Stanford CME295: Transformers and Large Language Models I Autumn 2025
Transformers, scaling laws, and large language model systems.
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Course
Stanford CS236: Deep Generative Models I 2023 I Stefano Ermon
Deep generative modeling, latent-variable methods, and modern generative learning.
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Course
Conversations with Andrew Ng
Long-form conversations on AI research, systems, and the field's direction.
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Course
Engineering Leadership Program
Engineering leadership, management, communication, and team-building lessons.
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Course
AI In Healthcare with Stanford professors Matt Lungren and Justin Norden
Applications of AI in healthcare, medical imaging, and clinical workflows.
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Course
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Stanford talks and lectures focused on modern large language models.
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Course
Human-AI Interaction
Designing, evaluating, and reasoning about interactive AI systems.
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Course
Stanford CS25 - Transformers United
Research talks on transformers across modalities and applications.
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Course
Agentic AI
Talks and lectures on autonomous, tool-using, and agentic AI systems.
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Course
17803 Empirical Methods - Fall 2022 - Carnegie Mellon University
Empirical methods for rigorous systems and software evaluation.
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Course
CMU Advanced Database Systems (15-721 / Spring 2024)
Modern database internals, query processing, and system design.
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Course
15-721 Advanced Database Systems (Spring 2023)
Advanced database systems from Andy Pavlo's CMU graduate course.
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Course
CMU Intro to Database Systems (15-445/645 - Fall 2024)
Storage, indexing, query execution, concurrency, and recovery fundamentals.
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Course
CMU Neural Nets for NLP 2021
Neural methods for language understanding, sequence modeling, and text generation.
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Course
CMU Advanced NLP Spring 2024
Advanced natural language processing with modern representation learning.
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Course
Financial Markets (2011) with Robert Shiller
Markets, risk, valuation, and behavioral finance from Robert Shiller.
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Course
Game Theory with Ben Polak
Strategic interaction, incentives, equilibrium, and rational decision making.
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Course
Power and Politics in Today's World
Contemporary global politics, state power, and international affairs.
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Course
The Early Middle Ages, 284-1000 with Paul Freedman
Political, religious, and social history of late antiquity and the early medieval world.
References
Recommended resources
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Reference
Clean Code
Essential guide to writing readable, maintainable code.
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Reference
The Pragmatic Programmer
Timeless advice for software developers on craft and career.
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Reference
Refactoring
Improving the design of existing code without changing behavior.
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Reference
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Deep dive into distributed systems, databases, and data processing.
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Reference
Database Internals
How distributed data systems work under the hood.
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Reference
CMU 15-445 Database Systems
Comprehensive database systems course from Carnegie Mellon.
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Reference
Kubernetes Up & Running
Operational guide to Kubernetes concepts, workloads, and cluster administration.
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Reference
The DevOps Handbook
Practices for improving delivery agility, reliability, and security.
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Reference
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide with 900 Practice Test Questions
Fourth-edition preparation for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 exam.
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Reference
Hands-On Large Language Models
Practical guide to understanding and building with LLMs.
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Reference
Deep Learning
The definitive textbook on deep learning fundamentals.
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Reference
Stanford CS229 Machine Learning
Classic machine learning course from Stanford.
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Reference
How to Read a Paper
Essential skill for any researcher - the three-pass approach.