The Absolute Minimum You Must Know

The series of "Topic: The Absolute Minimum You Must Know" documents cover the core concepts and basics of several topics like Markdown, Git, Python, and more. These are not meant to be complete tutorials that will fully teach you each technology.

Instead, they act as a benchmark to assess if you meet the minimum level of understanding required before embarking on this course. If you are able to follow along with the key ideas in each guide, that is a good sign you have the prerequisite foundation necessary to continue.

However, these guides only scratch the surface. They teach the absolute basics, but do not provide nearly enough depth for you to become proficient. You will need to do substantial additional independent research, reading, and practice exercises to truly master these technologies over time.

Regardless of your starting point, you should expect to deeply broaden and strengthen your knowledge in all of these areas through self-directed learning. The baseline level outlined in the guides is not sufficient - you will need to continuously build upon it throughout this course and your overall programming career.

Be prepared to spend time outside of class filling knowledge gaps, researching unfamiliar concepts you encounter, and sharpening your skills through practical application. Learning to program requires ongoing dedication to stay on top of new languages, tools, and best practices. Use the "Absolute Minimum" guides as a measure, but recognize you have much more to learn on the road ahead.