This guide does not aim to teach you everything. It aims to show you what exists, give you the basics, and spark curiosity so you can dig deeper on your own. At the end of each section you will see how it connects to artificial intelligence.
Computer Logic
What is this about?
A computer only understands true (1) and false (0). All the complexity of software is logic built on top of that. If you understand boolean logic, you understand the foundation of everything.
Analogy
Think of a light switch. On = 1, Off = 0. Now imagine a billion switches working together in nanoseconds. That is a processor.
The 3 operations you need to know
| Operation | Symbol | Rule | Real example |
|---|---|---|---|
| AND | && | True only if BOTH are true | Do you have an ID AND a car? → you can drive |
| OR | || | True if AT LEAST ONE is true | Umbrella OR hood? → you stay dry |
| NOT | ! | Inverts the value | If NOT raining → I go out without an umbrella |
// Decide whether to go for a run
if (notRaining AND freeTime) {
goForRun()
}
// Open the fridge if hungry OR bored
if (hungry OR bored) {
openFridge()
}
if (NOT haveHomework) {
watchNetflix()
}AI Connection
AI models like Claude make millions of logical decisions per second when generating text. Each neuron in a neural network applies variations of these operations on numbers.
To explore: "Boolean algebra", "Truth tables", "George Boole". He invented this 170 years ago without imagining it would bring computers to life.
Data and Binary Representation
Why binary?
Computers use electricity: there is current (1) or there is not (0). That is a bit. With 8 bits you have a byte. With bytes you can represent letters, numbers, images, video — anything.
Analogy
Imagine you can only communicate with light bulbs: on or off. To say "hello" you need a code. That is ASCII — a table that says "the letter A is the number 65, which in binary is 01000001".
// The number 13 in binary is 1101. Why? // 1×8 + 1×4 + 0×2 + 1×1 = 8+4+0+1 = 13 position: 8 4 2 1 binary: 1 1 0 1 → decimal: 13 // Number 7: position: 4 2 1 binary: 1 1 1 → decimal: 4+2+1 = 7
Storage units
| Unit | Equals | Analogy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bit | A 0 or a 1 | A switch |
| 1 byte | 8 bits | A letter of the alphabet |
| 1 KB | ~1,000 bytes | A short text message |
| 1 MB | ~1,000 KB | A photo from your phone |
| 1 GB | ~1,000 MB | A movie in medium quality |
| 1 TB | ~1,000 GB | Your computer hard drive |
AI Connection
Claude processes text as tokens — numbers. The phrase "hello world" becomes [15496, 31537] before the model processes it. Everything is binary under the hood: text, images, audio.
To explore: "Hexadecimal system", "ASCII table", "UTF-8 encoding". CSS colors like #E8602C are hexadecimal numbers (base 16) — each pair is one byte.
Algorithms and Programming Logic
What is an algorithm?
A sequence of steps to solve a problem. It does not have to be code. A cooking recipe is an algorithm. IKEA instructions too.
Analogy
Frying an egg: 1. Turn on heat. 2. Add oil. 3. If pan is hot → crack the egg. 4. Wait 2 min. 5. Remove and eat. Input (egg), process (steps), output (fried egg). That is an algorithm.
The 3 building blocks of any program
With these three structures you can build any software in the world:
turnOnComputer()
openBrowser()
searchOnGoogle("how to program")if (grade >= 5) {
show("Passed ✓")
} else if (grade >= 4) {
show("You need the oral exam")
} else {
show("Failed — back to studying")
}// Count from 1 to 10
for i from 1 to 10 {
show(i)
}
// While not home, keep walking
while (NOT atHome) {
walk()
}AI Connection
Language models are essentially very sophisticated algorithms. Given an input (your prompt), they execute millions of steps (the neural network forward pass) to generate an output (the response). There is no magic — there are algorithms.
To explore: "Algorithmic complexity O(n)", "Sorting algorithms" — search "sorting algorithms visualized" on YouTube. Watching them move changes everything.
Hardware — How the Computer Works
🧠 CPU — The Processor
The "brain". Executes instructions. Takes data, processes it, and produces results. Speed is measured in GHz (billions of operations per second). Almost all modern processors have multiple cores.
Analogy
The chef in a restaurant. Only the chef cooks, but they are incredibly fast. Cores are like multiple chefs working in parallel.
💾 RAM — Working Memory
Temporary memory. When you open Chrome, the data goes to RAM. Fast but volatile — when you turn off the computer everything is erased. More RAM = more things open without slowing down.
Analogy
Your work desk. The larger it is, the more papers you can have open. At the end of the day (shutdown), you clear the desk.
1. FETCH → The CPU retrieves the next instruction from memory 2. DECODE → It figures out what to do 3. EXECUTE → It does it (add, compare, move data...) 4. Go back to step 1. This happens billions of times per second.
AI Connection
AI models like Claude do not run on regular CPUs — they run on GPUs and TPUs, chips designed to perform thousands of matrix operations in parallel. A GPU can have thousands of small cores vs the 8-32 of a CPU. That is what makes modern AI possible.
To explore: "Von Neumann architecture", "What is a GPU and why does it matter for AI?". The GPU is the piece that changed everything.
Your First Real Code
Which language to learn first?
The honest answer: any of them works for learning concepts. But if I had to pick one today: Python. Clean, readable, used everywhere: web, data, artificial intelligence, automation.
Analogy
Python is like English — fairly straightforward. C is like Latin — precise and powerful but hard. JavaScript is like the internet's lingua franca — it is everywhere. The concepts you learn in one transfer to the others.
# Variable — a named box where you store a value
name = "Ana"
age = 22
passed = True # True = yes
print("Hello,", name) # → Hello, Ana
# Function — reusable block of code
def evaluate_grade(grade):
if grade >= 9:
return "Outstanding 🏆"
elif grade >= 5:
return "Passed"
else:
return "Failed"
grades = [6.5, 9.2, 4.5, 7.0]
for grade in grades:
print(f"Grade: {grade} → {evaluate_grade(grade)}")AI Connection
The Anthropic SDK for calling Claude from code is available in Python and JavaScript. With 20 lines of Python you can send a message to Claude and process its response. That is the next step after this guide.
To explore: Search "CS50 Harvard Python" on YouTube — it is the best free introductory course out there. Install Python and write your first print("Hello world"). The first code you run on your own is a moment you never forget.
Networks and the Internet
How does the Internet work?
The Internet is a huge network of computers that communicate using protocols — common rules for speaking the same language. Without protocols, computers could not understand each other.
Analogy
When you send a letter you need: the recipient's address (IP), an envelope (TCP packet), and the post office as intermediary (router). The Internet works the same way but in milliseconds.
Essential concepts
| Concept | What is it? |
|---|---|
| IP | Your computer's address on the network. Like your house number. |
| DNS | Translates names (google.com) to IPs. The Internet's address book. |
| HTTP/HTTPS | Protocol for the web. The S means it is encrypted. |
| Port | Like the door of a house. 80 = HTTP, 443 = HTTPS, 22 = SSH. |
1. Browser asks DNS: "What IP is google.com?" 2. DNS replies: "It is 142.250.184.14" 3. Your computer sends an HTTP request to that IP (port 443) 4. Google's server receives the request 5. It returns the HTML of the page 6. Your browser renders it on screen All of this happens in under 200ms.
AI Connection
When you call Claude's API, your code does exactly this: an HTTPS request to api.anthropic.com, with your message in the body (JSON), and Claude responds with text. It is just a web request like any other.
To explore: "What is a REST API?", "How does HTTPS work?". Once you understand HTTP you will understand how the entire modern web works — and how to talk to Claude from code.
What to Explore Next
Computer science is vast. You do not need to learn everything now — you need to know what exists so you can find it when you need it.
Foundation
Data Structures
Arrays, lists, trees, graphs. How to organize information efficiently.
Foundation
Operating Systems
How does the computer manage multiple programs? Processes, memory, files.
Programming
Object-Oriented Programming
Organizing code into objects. The basis of Python, Java, C#.
Programming
SQL Databases
How to store and query data. Ubiquitous in the industry.
Web
HTML + CSS + JavaScript
The three languages of the web. With them you can build any app.
Key 2026
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning, neural networks. It is not magic — it is math.
Infra
Linux and the Terminal
Most servers run Linux. Learning the terminal means talking directly to the computer.
Infra
Git and Version Control
How to save the history of your code. The most used tool in development.
Suggested roadmap
Install Python and write your first code
- Download Python.org
- Write your first variable, your first if, your first loop
- Do not skip this — it is the foundation of everything
Understand binary and logic
- Convert numbers to binary by hand
- Practice truth tables
- Search "CS50 Harvard" on YouTube — it is free and excellent
Basic algorithms
- Implement the algorithms from this guide in Python
- Search "sorting algorithms visualized" — watching them move changes everything
HTML and the web
- Create your first web page (it does not have to be pretty)
- Understand what a server is, what a client is
- Make an HTTP request by hand
When comfortable → Claude
- You now have the foundation to understand how AI works
- Continue with the certification roadmap →
Next step
Ready to build on it?
The Claude certification roadmap takes you from these foundations all the way to passing the Anthropic exam.