Alongside this handbook, Emily keeps an Engineering Notebook —
a running record of what she builds, learns, breaks and fixes, plus a
progress tracker of the competencies below. Start a new
entry with ./new-entry "..." and rebuild with ./build.
Daily Mission Format
Mission Brief (5 min)
Professor's Mini Lecture (10–15 min)
Engineering Lab (30–45 min)
Demonstration
Reflection
Starter Programme
Phase 1 — A Computer on the Internet
Linux basics
SSH
Files and directories
Nginx
HTML
CSS
Mission outcome: a personal website running on Emily's own domain.
Phase 2 — Creating Interaction
JavaScript
Browser developer tools
Events
Forms
UI and UX fundamentals
Mission outcome: interactive pages that are pleasant to use.
Phase 3 — Building Services
HTTP
Backend concepts
APIs
JSON
Authentication
Mission outcome: browser talking to a backend service.
Phase 4 — Remembering Things
Databases
Persistence
State
CRUD
Simple data modelling
Mission outcome: an application that stores information.
Phase 5 — Connecting Systems
DNS
Domains
HTTPS
Reverse proxies
Deployment
Monitoring
Mission outcome: a securely deployed Internet application.
Phase 6 — Designing Products
Emily chooses the project.
Possible examples:
Reading journal
Holiday planner
Recipe collection
School revision tracker
Sports club site
Family dashboard
The project should matter to Emily.
Competency Model
Each topic progresses through:
I recognise it.
I can use it.
I understand why it works.
I can teach it.
Engineering Review Checklist
For every project ask:
Does it work?
Is it understandable?
Is the UI clear?
Is the UX intuitive?
Is it reasonably secure?
Is it reliable?
Is it efficient?
Is it maintainable?
Could someone else extend it?
Engineering Notebook Habit
Maintain a Markdown journal recording: missions, diagrams, discoveries, bugs,
questions, reflections and ideas for future projects.
The notebook becomes the history of Emily's growth as an engineer.