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Skills

Build a Compiler and OS for Your Computer (Nand to Tetris II)

8 weeks · 2 milestones

Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: Nand to Tetris Part II (nand2tetris.org), then one project of your own. Part of the Varsity Curriculum: Computer Science.

Milestone map

Milestone map

2 milestones

Do the course work in public

3–6 weeks (12–18 hrs/week)

Take Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: Nand to Tetris Part II for free and do projects 7–11: VM translator and compiler. Keep everything in one public repo or notebook as you go. OSSU lists the Coursera version. We use the free nand2tetris.org site.

Proof required

Link your public repo or notebook with projects 7–11: VM translator and compiler, and a screenshot or log showing the self-check passed.

What gets checked

  • Each project passes its tests.
  • The compiler handles the full Jack language.
  • Code is organised in clear modules.

Common mistakes

  • Copying posted answers: verifiers read the history.
  • Skipping the self-check, then asking for review too early.

Powstik Guide

A public repo or notebook with projects 7–11: VM translator and compiler.

Steps

  1. Make a public repo or notebook first.
  2. Do one unit at a time and commit after each.
  3. Run the self-check: Each project's output must pass its supplied tests.
  4. Write a short README: what is here and how to run it.
  5. Ask three people who know the topic to check it.

Template

README
Course: Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: Nand to Tetris Part II (nand2tetris.org)
What is here:
How to run it:
Self-check result:
What was hardest:

What gets sent back

  • No history, just one big upload.
  • Self-check not shown.
  • Code that does not run from the README.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • Each project passes its tests.
  • The compiler handles the full Jack language.
  • Code is organised in clear modules.
  • Ask one question about a choice in the code; the answer should be clear.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

Write and run a Jack program

1–3 weeks (5–8 hrs/week)

Use what you learned. Make a game or tool written in Jack, compiled by your compiler, running on your computer. Keep it small enough to finish in about two weeks.

Proof required

Link a game or tool written in Jack, compiled by your compiler, running on your computer, with a README that says how to run or read it.

What gets checked

  • It compiles with your compiler.
  • It runs in the emulator.
  • A short video shows it working.

Common mistakes

  • A project too big to finish.
  • A demo that only works on your machine.

Powstik Guide

A game or tool written in Jack, compiled by your compiler, running on your computer.

Steps

  1. Write one line: what it does and for whom.
  2. Build the smallest version that works.
  3. Test it on someone else's machine or with someone else reading it.
  4. Write the README.
  5. Ask three people to check it.

Template

README
What it does:
Who it is for:
How to run it:
What I would do next:

What gets sent back

  • Does not run from the README.
  • Not clearly the person's own work.
  • Claims more than it does.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • It compiles with your compiler.
  • It runs in the emulator.
  • A short video shows it working.
  • Check that the work is the person's own.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

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