Language and Tool Primers

Just enough of each language and tool to build the course system, each placed immediately before the first module that needs it (design decision D38). A learner starting from high-school algebra meets Python, the shell, C, Rust, HTTP, Go, containers, and Kubernetes in the first two passes; these primers are where each one is introduced from first principles.

Overview

• What a primer is: a practice module (lang.01 to lang.11): one chapter plus small exercises in your course repo’s primers/<id>/, checked by ol check <id>. The exercises are not part of the system; they are the smallest artifacts that exercise the ideas the next module relies on.
• Prerequisites: none for lang.01; each later primer names its own.
• Estimated time: 2 to 4 hours per primer.

Key Takeaways

• Every primer ends in a checked artifact, so “I read about it” becomes “my code passes”.
• Each primer teaches only what its first call site needs, and its last section names that call site.
• Primers have no code call site of their own: later modules list them under reading, so they never block an ol check. The pass gates (MS-P0, MS-P1) require them.

How to Study

• Read the chapter’s sections 1 and 2 before you open an editor; do section 3 on paper.
• ol tests <id> before writing code: each test says why it exists.
• When a test fails, its WHY: line names the pitfall from section 5.

Primer plan

ID	Primer	First use	Pass
lang.01	Python and numpy: arrays, dtypes, broadcasting, views vs copies, uv projects	L0.0, rt.01 loader, L0.1	P0
lang.02	Shell, git, make, processes: exit codes, signals, environment, pipes	craft.01, every ol verdict	P0
lang.03	C: memory, pointers, structs, the C11 toolchain, sanitizers, headers and linkage	rt.01, M03.1	P1
lang.04	Rust: ownership, traits, Result, cargo workspaces, std TCP	L10.0, ds.05, L1.5	P1
lang.05	HTTP/1.1, JSON, and Server-Sent Events from the wire up	L10.0, gw.00	P1
lang.06	Go: packages, interfaces, goroutines, channels, context, net/http, testing	gw.00, dur.01, load.01	P1
lang.07	Containers and Kubernetes: images, layers, Pods, Deployments, Services, Helm, kind	dep.00	P1
lang.08	Python asyncio: event loop, tasks, cancellation, bounded concurrency	data.01	P3
lang.09	Async Rust and tokio: futures, tasks, channels, cancellation, hyper	L10.5	P7
lang.10	Protocol Buffers and gRPC: schema evolution, unary and streaming RPCs	L10.6, dur.01, dur.04	P7
lang.11	SQL and SQLite: schema, transactions, WAL mode, indexes, aggregates	gw.07	P7

Chapters

#	Module	Chapter	Kind	Pass
1	lang.01	Python and numpy: arrays, dtypes, broadcasting, views vs copies, uv projects	practice	0
2	lang.02	Shell, git, make, processes: exit codes, signals, environment, pipes	practice	0
3	lang.03	C: memory, pointers, structs, headers, and the C11 toolchain	practice	1
4	lang.04	Rust: ownership, traits, Result, cargo workspaces, std TCP	practice	1
5	lang.05	HTTP/1.1, JSON, and Server-Sent Events from the wire up	practice	1
6	lang.06	Go: packages, interfaces, goroutines, channels, context, net/http, testing	practice	1
7	lang.07	Containers and Kubernetes: images, layers, Pods, Deployments, Services, Helm, kind	practice	1
8	lang.08	Python asyncio: event loop, tasks, cancellation, bounded concurrency	practice	3
9	lang.09	Async Rust and tokio: futures, tasks, channels, cancellation, hyper	practice	7
10	lang.10	Protocol Buffers and gRPC: schema evolution, unary and streaming RPCs, stubs	practice	7
11	lang.11	SQL and SQLite: schema, transactions, WAL mode, indexes, aggregates	practice	7