Computer Science
Algorithms, data, logic and machine learning. 117 topics, from beginner to advanced.
Browse all 117 Computer Science topics →Featured
Visual showcases to start withMerge Sort
Split in half, sort each half, merge. Divide and conquer guarantees O(n log n).
Quicksort
Pick a pivot, partition smaller left and larger right, then recurse.
Breadth-First Search
Visit nodes level by level using a queue; finds shortest paths in unweighted graphs.
Dijkstra’s Shortest Path
Always expand the closest unvisited node; distances settle permanently.
Conway’s Game of Life
Cells live or die by counting neighbours — gliders, oscillators and computers emerge.
The Mandelbrot Set
Iterate z → z² + c; the points that never escape trace an infinitely detailed boundary.
Rule 110: A Universal Computer
This simple rule is Turing-complete, capable of any computation.
Julia Sets
Each constant c gives a different fractal; they are connected exactly when c is in the Mandelbrot set.
Gradient Descent
Step downhill along the negative gradient to minimise a loss; too big a step overshoots.
A Single Artificial Neuron
Weighted inputs plus a bias pass through an activation function to give an output.
Transformers and Attention
Attention lets every token weigh every other token when building meaning.
Reinforcement Learning Loop
An agent acts, receives rewards and learns a policy to maximise them.
Popular
Classic topics most learners start withBubble Sort
Repeatedly swap adjacent out-of-order items so large values bubble to the end.
Binary Search
On sorted data, halve the search range each step: a million items need only 20 checks.
Stack
Last in, first out: the structure behind undo, function calls and parentheses matching.
Queue
First in, first out: the structure behind print jobs, buffers and breadth-first search.
Hash Tables
A hash function maps keys to buckets for near-instant lookup; collisions are chained.
Linked Lists
Nodes hold a value and a pointer to the next node, making insertion cheap but access slow.
Binary Numbers
Every bit is a power of two: 1011₂ = 8 + 2 + 1 = 11.
RSA Public-Key Cryptography
Multiply two primes to make a public key; recovering them to decrypt is believed infeasible.
Caesar Cipher
Shift each letter by a fixed amount: the ancient cipher, easily cracked by trying all 25 keys.
Recursion: Tower of Hanoi
Move n disks by solving the problem for n−1 twice. Recursion in its purest form.
How a Web Request Works
A browser resolves a name, opens a connection and fetches a page.
Convolutional Neural Networks
Learned filters slide over an image to detect edges, textures and then objects.
All 117 Computer Science topics
🌱 Beginner
- Bubble Sort
- Selection Sort
- Insertion Sort
- Merge Sort
- Quicksort
- Heap Sort
- Shell Sort
- Counting Sort
- Linear Search
- Binary Search
- Interpolation Search
- Breadth-First Search
- Depth-First Search
- Dijkstra’s Shortest Path
- Minimum Spanning Tree (Prim)
- PageRank
- Recursion: Tower of Hanoi
- Recursion and Fibonacci Growth
- Stack
- Queue
- Binary Search Tree
- Binary Heap
- Binary Numbers
- Bitwise Operations
- RGB Colour and Hex Codes
- Colour Depth and Quantisation
- Rule 30 Cellular Automaton
- Cocktail Shaker Sort
- Sorting a Large Array with Merge Sort
- Quicksort on Many Items
- Insertion Sort on Few Items
- Selection Sort Always Does n² Comparisons
- Heap Sort on 60 Items
- Counting Sort on a Larger Range
- Linear Search on a Larger List
- Binary Search on a Large List
- Jump Search
- BFS on a Denser Graph
- DFS on a Larger Graph
- Shortest Paths with Dijkstra on 20 Nodes
- Minimum Spanning Tree on a Larger Graph
- Graph Colouring
- PageRank on a Larger Web
- Tower of Hanoi with Three Disks
- Tower of Hanoi with Six Disks
- Quadratic vs n log n Sorting
- Exponential Time Explosion
- Cache Hit Rate and Average Access Time
🔧 Intermediate
- Hash Tables
- Linked Lists
- AND Gate
- OR Gate
- NOT Gate (Inverter)
- XOR Gate
- Half Adder
- Full Adder
- Two’s Complement
- Floating-Point Numbers
- ASCII and Text Encoding
- Image Resolution and Pixels
- Conway’s Game of Life
- The Mandelbrot Set
- Julia Sets
- The Chaos Game
- Recursive Trees
- A Single Artificial Neuron
- k-Means Clustering
- Training a Linear Model
- Time Complexity: Linear vs Logarithmic
- Amdahl’s Law
- Moore’s Law
- Information Content of an Event
- Learning Curves and Overfitting
- Sigmoid Activation Saturation
- Softmax Temperature
- Loss Functions Compared
- How a Compiler Optimises Code
- Operating System Process Scheduling
- Virtual Memory and Paging
- The TCP Three-Way Handshake
- DNS Resolution
- How HTTPS Secures Traffic
- Public-Key Infrastructure
- Git Branching and Merging
- Continuous Integration
- Garbage Collection
- Database Transactions (ACID)
- SQL Query Execution
- How Search Engines Work
- Programming Language Speeds
🚀 Advanced
- NAND Gate: The Universal Gate
- Rule 110: A Universal Computer
- Gradient Descent
- Finite State Machines
- Parity Checker Automaton
- Pattern Matching Automata
- The Turing Machine
- Caesar Cipher
- RSA Public-Key Cryptography
- Cryptographic Hash Functions
- XOR Encryption and One-Time Pads
- How a Web Request Works
- The CPU Instruction Cycle
- The Memory Hierarchy
- From Source Code to Running Program
- Hash Collision Probability
- Recommendation Systems
- Training a Neural Network
- Convolutional Neural Networks
- Transformers and Attention
- Reinforcement Learning Loop
- Data Structures: Choosing One
- Agile Software Development
- Testing Pyramid
- Typical Latencies
- Sizes of Data Units
- Algorithm Steps for n = 1000
Frequently asked questions
What will I learn in Computer Science?
Algorithms, data, logic and machine learning. Each topic has a live animation, a lesson and a quick quiz.
Where should I start?
Try “Bubble Sort” from the Popular list, or any beginner topic in Browse.
Are the topics in a set order?
Browse groups topics by level, with beginner topics first. Each topic’s FAQ names the topic to read before it.