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🚀 Start Here — Foundry Quick Start

Welcome to Foundry! This is your roadmap to the learning system.

First Time Here?

Read these in order:

  1. This file (you are here) — 2 min
  2. CLAUDE.md — How the system works (10 min)
  3. docs/learning-workflow.md — Step-by-step guide (5 min to skim, reference as needed)

Quick Start: Your First Module

Option A: Go (If you prefer Go)

# 1. Read the lesson
open tracks/go/fundamentals/variables-and-types/lesson.md

# 2. Do the exercise
cd tracks/go/exercises/variables-and-types/01-config-loader/starter
go test  # watch tests fail
# implement config.go
go test  # verify your solution

# 3. Compare with solution
cd ../solutions
cat README.md
cat config.go

# 4. Try the debugging exercise
cd ../../debugging/nil-map-panic
go test  # watch it panic
# fix buggy.go
go test  # verify fix

Option B: TypeScript (If you prefer TypeScript)

# 1. Read the lesson
open tracks/typescript/fundamentals/variables-and-types/lesson.md

# 2. Do the exercise
cd tracks/typescript/exercises/variables-and-types/01-config-loader/starter
npm test  # watch tests fail
# implement config.ts
npm test  # verify your solution

# 3. Compare with solution
cd ../solutions
cat config.ts

Option C: C# (To test the new track)

# Read the lesson
open tracks/csharp/fundamentals/variables-and-types/lesson.md

# Exercises coming soon — lesson is ready to read

The Learning Loop

For every module, follow this pattern:

1. Read lesson.md          (30-45 min) — Tutorial + mental models
2. Skim reference.md       (5-10 min)  — Spec for later lookup
3. Do exercise             (30-60 min) — Practice in starter/
4. Compare with solutions  (10-15 min) — Learn patterns
5. Write review notes      (5 min)     — Reflect on what you learned
6. (Optional) Debug/Refactor (20-45 min) — Extra practice
7. Update progress.yaml    (2 min)     — Track confidence

Full guide: docs/learning-workflow.md

Repository Structure

foundry/
├── START-HERE.md          ← You are here
├── CLAUDE.md              ← System overview (read this!)
├── docs/
│   ├── learning-workflow.md    ← Step-by-step guide
│   ├── concept-surfacing.md    ← How concepts are linked
│   └── enhancements.md         ← What's been built
├── tracks/
│   ├── go/                ← Go learning path
│   ├── typescript/        ← TypeScript learning path
│   ├── rust/              ← Rust learning path
│   ├── python/            ← Python learning path
│   ├── scala/             ← Scala learning path (JVM ecosystem)
│   ├── zig/               ← Zig learning path (systems programming)
│   ├── haskell/           ← Haskell learning path (pure functional)
│   └── csharp/            ← C# learning path (.NET ecosystem)
├── vault/                 ← Knowledge base (Obsidian compatible)
│   ├── fundamentals/      ← Cross-language concept notes
│   ├── pitfalls/          ← Common mistakes database
│   ├── rosetta/           ← Cross-language quick reference
│   ├── interview-prep/    ← Interview question mapping
│   └── examples/          ← Production code examples
└── curriculum/
    ├── progress.yaml      ← Your progress tracking
    └── map.yaml           ← Dependency graph

Key Resources

For Learning

  • Lessons: tracks/<lang>/fundamentals/<module>/lesson.md
  • Exercises: tracks/<lang>/exercises/<module>/
  • References: tracks/<lang>/fundamentals/<module>/reference.md

For Review

  • Vault notes: vault/<category>/<module>.md (all languages compared)
  • Pitfalls: vault/pitfalls/ (common mistakes)
  • Progress: curriculum/progress.yaml (your journey)

For Practice

  • Debugging: tracks/<lang>/exercises/debugging/
  • Refactoring: tracks/<lang>/exercises/refactoring/
  • Interview prep: vault/interview-prep/

For Reference

  • Rosetta stone: vault/rosetta/common-operations.md (5 languages side-by-side)
  • Production examples: vault/examples/ (real-world code)

Current Status

Languages

  • ✅ Go — variables-and-types complete with exercises
  • ✅ TypeScript — variables-and-types complete with exercises
  • ✅ Rust — variables-and-types lesson + reference complete
  • ✅ Python — variables-and-types lesson + reference complete
  • ✅ Scala — replacing Java for JVM ecosystem (NEW!)
  • ✅ Zig — systems programming perspective (NEW!)
  • ✅ Haskell — pure functional perspective (NEW!)
  • ✅ C# — .NET ecosystem

Enhancements Live

  • ✅ Standard exercises with solutions + variants
  • ✅ Debugging exercises (Go)
  • ✅ Refactoring exercises (Go)
  • ✅ Code review practice exercises (NEW!)
  • ✅ Codebase navigation exercises (NEW!)
  • ✅ API design exercises (NEW!)
  • ✅ Pitfalls database (2 entries)
  • ✅ Production examples (Kubernetes config)
  • ✅ Interview prep mapping
  • ✅ Rosetta stone (all languages)
  • ✅ Cross-language vault notes
  • ✅ Spaced repetition schema

See ENHANCEMENTS_DEMO.md for full tour.

Next Steps

  1. Choose your primary language (Go or TypeScript recommended)
  2. Read docs/learning-workflow.md (your instruction manual)
  3. Start with variables-and-types
    • Read lesson.md
    • Do the config-loader exercise
    • Compare with solutions
  4. Check progress.yaml to see what's next
  5. Follow the spaced repetition schedule for reviews

Tips

  • 📖 Read, don't skip — The lessons build mental models
  • 💪 Practice first — Don't look at solutions immediately
  • 📝 Take notes — Use "Your notes" sections liberally
  • 🔗 Follow links — [[wiki-links]] connect concepts
  • 🎯 One module at a time — Depth > breadth
  • ⏱️ Schedule reviews — Trust the spaced repetition algorithm

Getting Help

  • Command reference: Read CLAUDE.md for system commands
  • Workflow confused?: Check docs/learning-workflow.md
  • Can't find something?: Use grep: grep -r "concept name" vault/
  • Lost?: Check curriculum/progress.yaml for what's completed

Demo: Try This Now

5-minute taste of the system:

# 1. Read a short section
head -50 tracks/go/fundamentals/variables-and-types/lesson.md

# 2. See the cross-language comparison
cat vault/fundamentals/variables-and-types.md | head -100

# 3. Check out a pitfall
cat vault/pitfalls/go-nil-map-panic.md

# 4. See the Rosetta stone
cat vault/rosetta/common-operations.md | head -80

Ready? → Start with docs/learning-workflow.md

Questions? → Check CLAUDE.md

Let's learn! 🚀