MIT's 'Missing Semester' course teaches CS students essential practical tools

MIT's "Missing Semester" course tackles a critical CS gap

MIT is offering a course to teach computer science students the essential, practical tools their standard curriculum often ignores. The class, called The Missing Semester of Your CS Education, focuses on command-line proficiency, powerful text editors, and advanced version control.

It argues that while students spend hundreds of hours using these tools, they are rarely formally taught how to use them effectively. Mastering these skills aims to reduce friction and enable students to solve more complex problems.

The curriculum integrates modern AI tools

A key component of the updated course is the integration of AI-enhanced workflows. The instructors note that AI is a cross-functional technology, not a standalone topic.

Therefore, instead of a dedicated AI lecture, the use of the latest applicable AI tools and techniques is folded directly into each lesson. The goal is to teach students to use these tools appropriately while being aware of their limitations.

Course is freely available and community-translated

The course materials, including lecture notes and videos, have been shared publicly beyond MIT. The staff encourages community contributions and translations.

Resources for the class include:

• Lecture notes and videos recorded with support from MIT Open Learning.
• A discussion forum on the OSSU Discord server.
• A list of community-translated materials, which the instructors note they have not vetted.

Instructors aim to solve a widespread problem

The course is co-taught by Anish Athalye, Jon Gjengset, and Jose Javier Gonzalez Ortiz. They can be reached at missing-semester@mit.edu.

The class is supported by MIT's Student Information Processing Board (SIPB) as part of its IAP 2026 programming. The instructors state the primary motivation is that spending time to learn these tools pays massive dividends over a CS career.