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Day 68: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Course

The Missing Semester

A free MIT course on the shell, editors, Git and everyday developer tools.

Visit The Missing Semester4.8

  • Rating

    4.8 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    Web

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is The Missing Semester?

The Missing Semester of Your CS Education is a short MIT course that teaches the practical tools most degrees skip, like the command line, a proper text editor, version control, debugging and scripting. Lecture videos and notes are free online, and the course was refreshed for 2026.

Pros: what The Missing Semester does well

  • Teaches tools you use every day
  • Free MIT lectures and notes
  • Short and practical

Cons: where it falls short

  • Assumes some programming background
  • No certificate or graded work

Who The Missing Semester is for

Students and junior developers who want to stop fighting their tools.

Who can skip it

People who already live comfortably in the terminal and Git.

The Missing Semester alternatives

Not sold on The Missing Semester? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Learning resources

The Art of Command Line

Focus: terminal, bash and linux. Shares command line with The Missing Semester. Adds macOS, Linux and Windows. Rated 4.9 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

CourseFreeWeb, macOS
4.9Visit

Click

Focus: python, cli and framework. Shares command line and developer tools with The Missing Semester. A framework, not a course. Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Same 4.8 rating.

FrameworkFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

navi

Focus: terminal, cli and cheatsheet. Also in Personal Productivity and Workflows, like The Missing Semester. A desktop app, not a course. Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Same 4.8 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

21st

Focus: react, tailwind and components. Also in Workflows and Learning, like The Missing Semester. A website, not a course. Freemium (The Missing Semester: Free). Rated 4.7 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

WebsiteFree planWeb
4.7Visit

Shortcuts.design

Focus: keyboard shortcuts, design tools and figma. Also in Personal Productivity and Learning, like The Missing Semester. A website, not a course. Rated 4.7 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit

Free alternatives to The Missing Semester

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Detail

Focus: design, ui and interaction design. Also in Workflows and Personal Productivity, like The Missing Semester. A website, not a course. Rated 4.5 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit

UI Skills

Focus: ui design, design engineering and frontend craft. Also in Workflows and Personal Productivity, like The Missing Semester. A website, not a course. Rated 4.5 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit

uncoverLAB

Focus: figma, ui design and website components. Also in Workflows and Personal Productivity, like The Missing Semester. A website, not a course. Rated 4.5 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Ghostty

Focus: terminal, emulator and gpu. Shares developer tools with The Missing Semester. A desktop app, not a course. Adds macOS and Linux. Rated 4.9 (The Missing Semester: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit

fzf

Focus: fuzzy finder, shell and open source. Shares command line with The Missing Semester. A desktop app, not a course. Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Same 4.8 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
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