memoet VS trane-math

I'm surprised no one mentioned Memoet (https://github.com/memoetapp/memoet). It is a much more modern version of Anki - much more open algorithm, REST APIs and universal interfaces and self-hosted control over one's data.

I started using a self-hosted tool called Memoet (https://github.com/memoetapp/memoet). I put everything I want to remember there - in Q&A structure. All I need to do regularly is open Memoet and swipe through the flashcards.

I'm not very fond of installing and updating software, and the Anki web is ugly, so I made an alternative web app: https://memoet.com.

Check out the source code: https://github.com/memoetapp/memoet

I've been working on https://github.com/trane-project/trane for the past year or so, mostly to get around these limitations. I tried to find a way to use Anki or another existing software to aid my music practice, but I couldn't get it to work.

Some ways in which it's different:

- Dependencies are core to the system. For example, if I am learning a music piece, I want to start by learning small sections and only move on to larger sections when I am good enough the small stuff, eventually ending with a final exercise that tests my performance of the whole piece. A lot of knowledge/skills follow that pattern, but I couldn't find a way to make Anki or SuperMemo understand this.

- It's meant for both memorizing stuff and practicing exercises. I have tested it with your exact example (math problems from textbooks). It works fairly well, but it's at a very early stage (you can look around at https://github.com/trane-project/trane-math, but it still needs a readme). So it's doing the same thing as the students you mentioned. The difference is that the scheduling is done automatically. Review of existing problems and addition of new ones happen without requiring planning or tracking from the student.

- There's an emphasis on generating the flashcards as text files, so they can be shared. I don't understand why people insist of remaking their own flascards every time. If someone wishes to learn guitar, for example, it's my hope they just download some courses and start learning without spending any time redoing flashcards. This design choice probably makes it harder to write the flascards, but it balances out once the flashcards are done and can be passed around.

I started working on this a few weeks ago: https://github.com/trane-project/trane-math It currently needs a README, but you could take a look at the courses on how I am building the flashcards. It's easy to reference external resources, so that's what I have been doing, rather than trying to create exercises of my own.

I am starting with a very basic olympiad-style book and a book based on Euclid's Elements, because I don't have the understanding required to clearly work out the dependencies of more advanced stuff. And I also would like to start at the beginning to make sure I don't miss anything.

The ideal end state is to have courses that cover all the undergrad and grad math curriculum. I am also curious on whether this could be even used by researchers to keep up to date with the latest research on their fields. But all of that is a long way out.

As for your question, there are a couple of ways that Trane could handle multiple paths through similar material.

1. Just have separate curriculums. You could copy the courses, but the second copy has different dependencies, courses/lessons IDs. For example, one could have a series of courses teaching the undergrad MIT math curriculum and another the Harvard curriculum. They might share a lot of the material, but the order will be different.

2. Trane does not lock you into a specific order. There are filters that let you specify which parts of the graph you want to study. You are free to get questions from specific courses and lessons. You can also use the metadata in the courses to say things like "give me questions from all lessons teaching linear algebra" or "give me questions from all courses on real analysis but not from the lessons on set theory". The dependencies between the lessons that match that metadata are still respected. There are a few more options, but you get my point. The dependencies are not set in stone, and there's freedom to jump around and study specific topics.

I actually use option 2 most days. If I want to practice guitar, I just set a filter to give me exercises from the guitar. Similar thing when I want to practice saxophone.