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Learn from First Principles Build Understanding Ground Up

Deep dive tutorials on trading infrastructure, Linux kernel optimization, and DeFi security.

95
Lessons
8
Topics
62h+
Content
📚

Fundamentals

2 lessons

Core computer science concepts that underpin all systems engineering.

🐧

Linux Fundamentals

15 lessons

Master the operating system that powers servers, containers, and trading systems.

1

The Physics of the Kernel: Ring 0, Traps & Syscalls

beginner

Why 'User Space' is a lie. The physics of CPU Privilege Levels (Ring 0 vs 3), the Interrupt Descriptor Table (IDT), and the cost of crossing the border.

45m
2

The Physics of Networking: From NIC to Socket

intermediate

Why your ping is 0.1ms but your app is 10ms. The physics of DMA, Ring Buffers, SoftIRQs (NET_RX), and the Socket Buffer (sk_buff).

50m
3

The Physics of Processes: Life, Death, and Zombies

intermediate

Why fork() is fast (COW), why Context Switching is slow (TLB Flush), and how the Kernel manages the illusion of multitasking.

45m
4

The Physics of Interrupts: Top Half, Bottom Half & Latency

beginner

Why the CPU stops everything when you type a key. The physics of Pipeline Flushes, the IDT (Interrupt Descriptor Table), and the 'Top Half' constraint.

40m
5

The Physics of Files: Structs, Inodes & VFS

intermediate

Why 'Everything is a File' is the most powerful abstraction in history. The physics of the FD Table, VFS function pointers, and the O(1) magic of Epoll.

40m
6

The Physics of Signals: Stack Injection & Re-entrancy

beginner

Why `printf` inside a signal handler causes deadlocks. The physics of Userspace Stack Injection, the Trampoline, and Async-Signal-Safety.

40m
7

Linux Memory: The Physics of RAM

beginner

Why access to RAM is slow (TLB Misses), how the Kernel cheats with Slab Allocators, and the math behind the OOM Killer.

45m
8

The Physics of Scheduling: Time Dilation in the Kernel

intermediate

Why 'Nice' is actually Time Dilation. Red-Black Trees, O(log N) physics, and why Real-Time processes are dangerous.

45m
9

The Physics of Cgroups: Resource Controllers & OOM

beginner

How Docker limits RAM. The physics of the CFS Scheduler, Hierarchical Token Buckets, and the OOM Killer's linear search.

40m
10

The Physics of Namespaces: nsproxy, clone() & Isolation

intermediate

How Docker tricks processes into thinking they are alone. The physics of `nsproxy`, the `clone()` bitmask, and Virtual Ethernet pairs.

40m
11

The Physics of Containers: Layers, OverlayFS & Chroot

intermediate

A container is not a Virtual Machine. It is a process with a mask. The physics of Copy-on-Write (CoW), Union Filesystems, and manual container assembly.

45m
12

The Physics of Systemd: Dependency DAGs & Socket Activation

beginner

Why Linux boots in 2 seconds. The physics of parallel execution graphs, lazy socket activation, and the `sd_notify` heartbeat protocol.

40m
13

The Physics of Permissions: Inodes, Capabilities & ACLs

intermediate

Why 'chmod 777' is amateur. The physics of Inode Bitmasks, Capability Sets (CAP_NET_ADMIN), and Access Control Lists.

40m
14

The Physics of Secrets: mlock(), Vault & Memory Forensics

beginner

Why environment variables are unsafe. The physics of Swap Memory, Core Dumps, `mlock()`, and HashiCorp Vault's Shamir's Secret Sharing.

40m
15

The Physics of Observability: Auditd, eBPF & Merkle Trees

intermediate

Why standard logging is blind. The physics of Kernel Auditing, eBPF Tracing, and constructing tamper-proof log chains with Merkle Trees.

45m

Linux Performance

5 lessons

Kernel tuning, CPU isolation, and memory optimization for low-latency workloads.

🔒

Security Fundamentals

14 lessons

Authentication, authorization, supply chain security, and threat modeling.

1

Cryptography: Physics of Secrets

beginner

Why AES-256 is unbreakable by physics. The mechanics of RSA (Prime Factoring), ECC (Discrete Logs), and Hash Collisions.

40m
2

OWASP Top 10: The Physics of Vulnerability

intermediate

Why SQL Injection is actually a Compiler Error. Deconstructing the mechanics of Broken Access Control, XSS, and SSRF.

45m
3

The Physics of TLS: Handshakes & Secrecy

intermediate

How to agree on a secret code in a crowded room. Diffie-Hellman, Forward Secrecy, and why TLS 1.3 is faster.

40m
4

The Physics of Wallets: Curves, Keys & Entropy

intermediate

Why your money is a large integer. The physics of Elliptic Curve Cryptography ($d \times G = Q$), Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Derivation, and Entropy Math.

45m
5

Network Security: The Physics of Attack

beginner

How to drop 100Gbps of traffic without crashing. Understanding DDoS physics, ARP Spoofing, and Kernel-level filtering.

40m
6

Security Architecture for Trading Firms

intermediate

Defense in depth for trading infrastructure. Network segmentation, key management, and incident response.

25m
7

Insider Threat: Order Flow Security

intermediate

Protecting order flow from internal threats. Separation of duties, monitoring, and secure execution paths.

25m
8

Security Incident Response: Complete Guide

intermediate

When things go wrong. Learn how to detect, contain, and recover from security incidents.

35m
9

Supply Chain Security: The Physics of Trust

intermediate

Why your code is only 1% of your application. Dependency Confusion, Typosquatting, and how to survive the SolarWinds of tomorrow.

35m
10

Zero Trust Wallets: Air-Gaps & Faraday Cages

intermediate

Why USB cables are attack vectors. The physics of Air-Gapping, PSBT (Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions), and Acoustic Side-Channels.

50m
11

Penetration Testing Introduction: Complete Guide

beginner

Ethical hacking basics. Learn how security professionals find vulnerabilities before attackers do.

35m
12

The Physics of Identity: Entropy, Hashing & Graph Theory

intermediate

Auth is math. The physics of Password Entropy, why Argon2 defeats GPUs, and Graph Theory for RBAC vs ABAC authorization.

40m
13

Trusted Execution Environments (TEE)

advanced

Running code that even sysadmins can't see. SGX enclaves, remote attestation, and the cryptographic primitives powering confidential computing.

45m
14

The Physics of Zero Trust: mTLS, JWTs & Network Micro-Segmentation

beginner

Why VPNs are dead. The physics of Cryptographic Identity (mTLS), Token Propagation (JWT), and the mathematics of Blast Radius Reduction.

45m
🏗️

System Design

7 lessons

Architecture patterns for distributed systems, databases, and infrastructure.

📈

Trading Infrastructure

22 lessons

Low-latency systems, matching engines, and market microstructure.

1

First Principles of Trading Infrastructure

intermediate

Why N+1 Redundancy kills your PnL. The physics of Amdahl's Law, Capacity Planning (Microbursts), and the Buy vs Build Matrix.

40m
2

The Physics of Latency: Jitter & Coordinated Omission

beginner

Why your benchmarks are lying. Open Loop vs Closed Loop testing, System Management Interrupts (SMIs), and the physics of P99.

45m
3

HFT: The Physics of Nanoseconds

beginner

Why light is too slow. Microwave networks, Kernel Bypass (Solarflare), and why Fiber Optic cables are obsolete for price discovery.

45m
4

How This Site Measures Latency

intermediate

A deep dive into real-time latency measurement using the Performance API, Vercel Edge, and trading-grade observability techniques.

20m
5

The Physics of the Order Book: L2, L3, and Sequence Gaps

beginner

Why 'Price' is an aggregation of intent. Understanding Level 2 vs Level 3 data, UDP Sequence Gaps, and the Crossed Book phenomenon.

45m
6

The Physics of Data Feeds: Multicast & Arbitration

intermediate

Why TCP is too slow. The physics of UDP Multicast, A/B Arbitration, and Zero-Copy Serialization (SBE).

45m
7

The Physics of Matching Engines: Speed & Determinism

intermediate

Why the fastest engines in the world are Single-Threaded. Ring Buffers, CPU Cache alignment, and the LMAX Disruptor.

45m
8

The Physics of FPGA: Hardware Acceleration

beginner

Why Software is too slow. The physics of Tick-to-Trade, Logic Gates, and Pipeline Determinism.

50m
9

Order Types: The Physics of Execution

intermediate

Why a 'Market Order' is an algorithm, not a request. Price-Time Priority, Slippage Physics, and why IOC is the HFT weapon of choice.

40m
10

The Physics of Market Making: Inventory & Risk

beginner

Why the 'Spread' is not profit-it is insurance premium. Avellaneda-Stoikov math, Toxic Flow, and the physics of getting run over.

50m
11

The Physics of Colocation: Speed of Light & Fiber

intermediate

Why light is too slow for trading. The physics of Refractive Index (n=1.5), Hollow Core Fiber, and Microwave Networks (Goex).

45m
12

Order Book Reconstruction in Sub-Millisecond

intermediate

How to build and maintain order books from L2/L3 feeds. Sequence numbers, gap detection, and snapshot recovery.

25m
13

Trading Risk Management: Complete Guide

intermediate

Position sizing, stop losses, and risk limits. Learn how professional traders protect capital.

35m
14

Physics of Market Data: Ticker Plants & Books

intermediate

Why normalization costs 5 microseconds. The physics of Book Building (Deltas vs Snapshots) and Time Series Databases (KDB+/q).

40m
15

PTP Time Synchronization: Sub-Microsecond Accuracy

intermediate

Why NTP is broken for HFT compliance and how IEEE 1588 PTPv2 with hardware timestamping achieves sub-100ns accuracy.

25m
16

eBPF Profiling Without the Observer Effect

intermediate

How to measure latency at nanosecond precision without slowing down your application. eBPF, bpftrace, and kernel tracing.

25m
17

Trading System Metrics That Actually Matter

intermediate

Fill latency, position drift, market data staleness. The SLOs that prevent losses-not just track uptime.

20m
18

Kubernetes StatefulSets for Trading Systems

intermediate

StatefulSets vs Deployments, pod identity, PersistentVolumes, and graceful shutdown patterns for trading infrastructure.

20m
19

The Nanosecond Economy: Physics of Winning

intermediate

Why 2nd place is 1st loser. The physics of Winner-Takes-All, Adverse Selection (Toxic Flow), and Jitter (Tail Latency).

45m
20

The Sub-50µs Cloud Lie

intermediate

Why cloud vendors' latency claims don't match reality for trading. Real measurements and the hard limits of cloud infrastructure.

20m
21

Crypto Exchange Architecture on AWS

intermediate

Building a crypto exchange infrastructure on AWS. VPC design, security groups, HSM integration, and disaster recovery.

25m
22

Antifragile MEV Infrastructure

intermediate

Building MEV systems that strengthen under attack. Redundancy, graceful degradation, and chaos engineering.

25m
⛓️

Blockchain Fundamentals

15 lessons

Consensus, transactions, smart contracts, and node architecture.

1

What Is a Blockchain? The Complete Guide

beginner

Master blockchain technology from first principles. From cryptographic foundations to consensus mechanisms, understand how distributed ledgers actually work.

40m
2

The Physics of Ethereum: State, Tries, and Gas

beginner

Forget 'World Computer.' Ethereum is a deterministic state machine secured by a Merkle Patricia Trie. Learn how it actually works.

50m
3

The Physics of Nodes: State Tries & Pruning

intermediate

Why Archive Nodes are 15TB. The physics of Merkle Patricia Tries, State Pruning, and how Light Clients verify data without storing it.

40m
4

Smart Contracts: Immutability, Storage Slots, and the ABI

beginner

It's not 'Code is Law.' It's 'Code is Compiled Bytecode.' Deep dive into EVM storage layout, Function Selectors, and ABI encoding.

50m
5

The Anatomy of a Transaction: Nonces, Gas, and RLP

intermediate

It's not just 'sending money.' A deep dive into RLP encoding, the EIP-1559 fee market, and why Nonce gaps cause stuck transactions.

40m
6

The Physics of Gas: EIP-1559 and Blob Markets

intermediate

Why does a transaction cost $50? Understanding the algorithmic control theory behind EIP-1559 and the new multi-dimensional Blob Gas market.

40m
7

Blockchain Bridges Explained

intermediate

How cross-chain bridges work, their security models, and the risks of moving assets between blockchains.

20m
8

The Physics of Consensus: PoW, PoS, and Sybil Resistance

intermediate

Why blockchains don't need a CEO. A deep engineering dive into Sybil Resistance, Difficulty Adjustment Algorithms, and the implementation of Slashing.

50m
9

Layer 2 Solutions Explained: Complete Guide

intermediate

Rollups, sidechains, and the quest for scale. Learn how Ethereum extends without sacrificing security.

35m
10

The Physics of Oracles: Bringing Truth On-Chain

intermediate

Why blockchains are autistic. The Oracle Problem, Sybil Resistance, and why Chainlink aggregation is a Schelling Point.

40m
11

Bridge Security & Mechanics: Moving Assets Across Chains

intermediate

From trusted multi-sigs to trustless light clients. A technical deep dive into how bridges lock, mint, and verify state-and why they are the #1 target for hackers.

45m
12

DeFi Governance Explained

intermediate

Token voting, delegation, timelocks. How DeFi protocols make decisions on-chain.

15m
13

DeFi Risk Management

intermediate

Managing risk in DeFi: position sizing, protocol risk assessment, and portfolio construction.

20m
14

DeFi Protocol Security and Reliability

intermediate

Building and evaluating secure DeFi protocols. Common vulnerabilities, defense patterns, and security best practices.

25m
15

The Physics of Execution: EVM & Opcodes

intermediate

Why the Ethereum Virtual Machine is 100x slower than Native Code. The physics of Stack Machines, Gas Metering, and I/O Bottlenecks.

45m
🔥

DeFi & MEV

15 lessons

AMMs, lending protocols, MEV, and advanced on-chain execution.

1

What Is DeFi? Complete Guide

beginner

Decentralized Finance explained. From first principles to protocols, understand how finance is being rebuilt without intermediaries.

35m
2

Stablecoins Explained: Complete Guide

beginner

USDC, USDT, DAI-how do they maintain their peg? Understand the backbone of DeFi.

30m
3

Usage of AMMs Explained: Automated Market Makers

intermediate

Uniswap, Curve, and x*y=k. Learn how decentralized exchanges work without order books, from the constant product formula to impermanent loss mechanics.

40m
4

Flash Loans: The Physics of Atomic Credit

intermediate

Borrowing $1 Billion for 12 seconds. How atomic transactions enable uncollateralized lending and why if you fail, it never happened.

45m
5

The Physics of Liquidity Pools: x*y=k and LVR

intermediate

Why 'Impermanent Loss' is actually 'Permanent Arbitrage'. The Conservation Law of AMMs, Convexity, and why Uniswap V3 is a leveraged bet.

45m
6

The Physics of Yield Farming: Leverage & Loops

beginner

How to turn $1 into $10 of TVL. Recursive Lending (Looping), Risk Stacking, and the dangerous physics of 'Money Legos'.

45m
7

Lending Protocols: Aave Architecture & Flash Loans

intermediate

How Aave V3 optimizes capital efficiency. Isolation Mode, Efficiency Mode (eMode), and the physics of Atomic Flash Loans.

50m
8

The Physics of Governance: Bribes & Timelocks

intermediate

Why 'Decentralized Governance' is actually 'Plutocratic Warfare'. The physics of Vote Buying (Curve Wars), Time-Locks, and Governance Extractable Value (GEV).

40m
9

DeFi Oracles: V3 TWAPs, Pyth & Optimism

intermediate

Why Spot Prices are dangerous. The physics of Geometric Mean TWAPs (Uniswap V3), Confidence Intervals (Pyth), and Optimistic Oracles (UMA).

45m
10

The Physics of MEV: The Blockspace Auction

beginner

Why your transaction is being watched. A deep analysis of the Dark Forest, Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS), and the industrialization of arbitrage.

45m
11

The Physics of Lending: Health Factors & Liquidations

intermediate

Why interest rates behave like asymptotes. The math of Health Factors, Liquidation Thresholds, and the 'Kink' in the Utilization Curve.

45m
12

MEV-Boost & Relay Architecture

intermediate

The trusted middleware in Ethereum's trustless system. Deep dive into the getHeader/getPayload flow, relay security, and the infrastructure that powers PBS.

35m
13

Liquidity Mining: The Physics of Inflation

intermediate

Why Farm Tokens always go to zero. The mechanics of MasterChef contracts, Vampire Attacks, and the 'Mercenary Capital' problem.

40m
14

The 100ms Tax: Block Builders and MEV

intermediate

How block builders extract value and why your transactions might be slower than they need to be.

20m
15

SUAVE: Decentralized Block Building

advanced

The future of MEV. How Flashbots is decentralizing block building with encrypted mempools, TEEs, and a dedicated chain for transaction ordering.

40m

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