Perhaps this is a far-fetched idea, but let’s toss it out anyway: it occurs to me that I probably don’t have time in my schedule to get a master’s degree in computer science, but I’ve wanted for a long time to get one. I don’t have time because, as it is, I routinely work at my job until 8 or 9 at night. As I get more proficient at what I do, I expect I’ll work less, but at least for a while there’s just no way that I could do a job *and* get a master’s *and* be a reasonably good boyfriend *and* take regular trips up to New Hampshire to spend time with my girlfriend’s kids. Oh, *and* sleep.
So. That having been determined, I should spend the next few months/years building up master’s-level proficiency on my own. I should read books, watch videos, and write a lot of code on my own. A good master’s program will build a lot of theory as well, which means a lot of math. Historically, I’ve not been very good at learning math at an abstract level — but if I can code it up (e.g., writing a crypto algorithm), I can probably internalize it quickly.
Can anyone recommend a curriculum for my self-taught computer-science master’s degree? Recommend books? Recommend the sort of programming projects that one would encounter in a good master’s program?
Steve Reads 
In the course of my low-rent MS, the only class that was challenging, interesting, and worth the time was Algorithms and Efficiency. The book was pretty awesome, and a large reason why I loved the class.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-Heuristics-Zbigniew-Michalewicz/dp/3540224947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270346980&sr=8-1
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I think this is an interesting idea. There are various masters level CS and EE classes available for free on MIT Open Courseware. I’ve thought about the possibility of at least an undergrad CS degree similar to the Personal MBA. It seems like the curriculum might be out there. At least listing what you are interested in and diving deeper is always helpful. Good luck with your search!
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i dropped out of NYU after a semester and moved to SF and worked for a bunch of startups, always was able to learn what was needed on the job and never felt (or was told) was missing something. so much of it is constantly evolving industry practices that i doubt any school does a superb job on
to really create anything i think up on a library/system levels especially, and feel comfortable i wasnt being grossly inefficient about things it became pretty apparent i’d have to more or less learn ‘computer science’ in its entirety. i’d suggest the Norvig 10 year plan..
i read PoignantGude, R4R, HSoE, PiL, TAPL, PFDS, RWH, TPPL, watched several of the SICP videos, probably other stuff im forgetting..
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