Tutorials Roadmap

Hands-on tutorials that turn vault theory into working code. Each tutorial is self-contained — copy-paste and run.

Philosophy: Implement it from scratch first, understand every line, then use libraries. You don’t understand it until you’ve built it.

Prerequisites

• GCC, Make, GDB, Valgrind
• Python 3.10+, NumPy, Matplotlib
• For embedded tutorials: STM32 board + OpenOCD (or simulation notes provided)

# C toolchain (Linux)
sudo apt install gcc make gdb valgrind
 
# Python
pip install numpy matplotlib scipy

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Phase 1 — Data Structures and Algorithms in C

Build core data structures from scratch in C. No libraries, no magic.

#	Tutorial	Vault Foundation	Difficulty
01	01 - Build a Hash Table in C	Hash Tables, C Language Essentials	Beginner
02	02 - Implement Merge Sort in C	Sorting Algorithms, Recursion, Big O Notation	Beginner

Phase 2 — Systems Programming, OS, and Networking

Write C that talks to the kernel. Processes, sockets, debugging.

#	Tutorial	Vault Foundation	Difficulty
03	03 - Debug a Segfault with GDB	Debugging with GDB, Pointers and Memory	Beginner
04	04 - Build a Mini Shell	Processes and Threads, System Calls, File IO in C	Intermediate
05	05 - TCP Echo Server from Scratch	TCP Protocol, Socket Programming	Intermediate
06	06 - Build a Thread Pool in C	Concurrency and Synchronization, Processes and Threads	Advanced

Phase 3 — Embedded Systems and Electrical Foundations

Cross into hardware. GPIO, serial protocols, sensors.

#	Tutorial	Vault Foundation	Difficulty
07	07 - Bare Metal Blinky on STM32	GPIO and Digital IO, Microcontroller Architecture, Memory-Mapped IO	Beginner
08	08 - UART Serial Console from Scratch	UART SPI I2C, Interrupts and Timers	Intermediate
09	09 - Read a Sensor over I2C	UART SPI I2C, ADC and DAC, Memory-Mapped IO	Intermediate

Phase 4 — Control Theory and Robotics

Close the loop. Simulate before you build.

#	Tutorial	Vault Foundation	Difficulty
10	10 - PID Controller Simulation	PID Controller, Open Loop vs Closed Loop	Beginner
11	11 - Kalman Filter for Noisy Sensor Data	Kalman Filter, State Space Representation	Intermediate
12	12 - Simulate a 2-Link Robot Arm	Kinematics, PID Controller, State Space Representation	Advanced

Phase 5 — Advanced Systems

Lock-free concurrency, network protocols, and compilers.

#	Tutorial	Vault Foundation	Difficulty
13	13 - Lock-Free Data Structures in C	Concurrency and Synchronization, C Language Essentials	Advanced
14	14 - TCP IP Stack from Scratch	TCP Protocol, Socket Programming	Advanced
15	15 - Build a Tiny Compiler	C Language Essentials, Algorithms	Advanced

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Suggested Learning Paths

Path A: “I want to write real C” (systems track)

01 → 02 → 03 → 04 → 05 → 06

Path B: “I want to build embedded systems” (hardware track)

01 → 03 → 07 → 08 → 09

Path C: “I want to build robots” (control track)

10 → 11 → 12 → 07 → 09

Path D: “Give me the exit criteria” (minimum viable)

01 → 02 → 03 → 05 → 07 → 10 → 11

Path E: “I want to build systems from scratch” (advanced)

13 → 14 → 15 → 06

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How to Use These Tutorials

1. Read the vault note first — understand the concept
2. Work through the tutorial — run every code block, modify values, break things
3. Do the exercises — they force you to think, not just copy
4. Connect back — each tutorial links to related vault notes and next tutorials

The goal is not to type code. It’s to understand what every line does and why.