There&#x27;s no shortcut: If you want a solid grounding in CS, you need to study CS.  Go through a school curriculum without going to school.  Most schools have curricula and program requirements online.  MIT OCW is a good place to start.  If you need more structure, you can find equivalent courses for free on Coursera, edX, etc.  If you want to do this but don&#x27;t know how to go about it, or want a &quot;solid grounding&quot; but don&#x27;t quite know what that means or how to go about getting it, start with some of the various &quot;learning how to learn&quot; resources: Cal Newport&#x27;s blog or books, Barbara Oakley&#x27;s &quot;Learning How to Learn&quot; Cousera course and book, 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, etc.