Code, 2nd Edition

EPUB 3, 480 pages

English language

Published Aug. 2, 2022 by Pearson Education.

ISBN:: 978-0-13-790929-2

The classic guide to how computers work, updated with new chapters and interactive graphics "For me, Code was a revelation. It was the first book about programming that spoke to me. It started with a story, and it built up, layer by layer, analogy by analogy, until I understood not just the Code, but the System. Code is a book that is as much about Systems Thinking and abstractions as it is about code and programming. Code teaches us how many unseen layers there are between the computer systems that we as users look at every day and the magical silicon rocks that we infused with lightning and taught to think." - Scott Hanselman, Partner Program Director, Microsoft, and host of Hanselminutes Computers are everywhere, most obviously in our laptops and smartphones, but also our cars, televisions, microwave ovens, alarm clocks, robot vacuum cleaners, and other smart appliances. Have you …

The classic guide to how computers work, updated with new chapters and interactive graphics "For me, Code was a revelation. It was the first book about programming that spoke to me. It started with a story, and it built up, layer by layer, analogy by analogy, until I understood not just the Code, but the System. Code is a book that is as much about Systems Thinking and abstractions as it is about code and programming. Code teaches us how many unseen layers there are between the computer systems that we as users look at every day and the magical silicon rocks that we infused with lightning and taught to think." - Scott Hanselman, Partner Program Director, Microsoft, and host of Hanselminutes Computers are everywhere, most obviously in our laptops and smartphones, but also our cars, televisions, microwave ovens, alarm clocks, robot vacuum cleaners, and other smart appliances. Have you ever wondered what goes on inside these devices to make our lives easier but occasionally more infuriating? For more than 20 years, readers have delighted in Charles Petzold's illuminating story of the secret inner life of computers, and now he has revised it for this new age of computing. Cleverly illustrated and easy to understand, this is the book that cracks the mystery. You'll discover what flashlights, black cats, seesaws, and the ride of Paul Revere can teach you about computing, and how human ingenuity and our compulsion to communicate have shaped every electronic device we use. This new expanded edition explores more deeply the bit-by-bit and gate-by-gate construction of the heart of every smart device, the central processing unit that combines the simplest of basic operations to perform the most complex of feats. Petzold's companion website, CodeHiddenLanguage.com, uses animated graphics of key circuits in the book to make computers even easier to comprehend. In addition to substantially revised and updated content, new chapters include: Chapter 18: Let's Build a Clock! Chapter 21: The Arithmetic Logic Unit Chapter 22: Registers and Busses Chapter 23: CPU Control Signals Chapter 24: Jumps, Loops, and Calls Chapter 28: The World Brain From the simple ticking of clocks to the worldwide hum of the internet, Code reveals the essence of the digital revolution.

5 editions

[email protected] reviewed Code, 2nd Edition by Charles Petzold

None

5 stars

The book goes very meticulously goes through how to build a "modern" CPU (modern meaning most of an Intel 8080, specifically). I'd say I had a pretty firm grasp on what logic gates were before and how they work, as well as binary/hexadecimal encoding, which is the topic of the first few chapters but still found that the book gave some new perspectives and was overall an enjoyable read.

After that you get into the meat of the potato, when he starts making circuits that add and subtract numbers together. These parts are still quite easy to grasp and in my opinion extremely fascinating, at this point of the book I was absolutely in love with it. When he later gets to building the ALU, I find that the approach breaks down a bit. The explanations are still excellent for this part, but it didn't take me long to get …

The book goes very meticulously goes through how to build a "modern" CPU (modern meaning most of an Intel 8080, specifically). I'd say I had a pretty firm grasp on what logic gates were before and how they work, as well as binary/hexadecimal encoding, which is the topic of the first few chapters but still found that the book gave some new perspectives and was overall an enjoyable read.

After that you get into the meat of the potato, when he starts making circuits that add and subtract numbers together. These parts are still quite easy to grasp and in my opinion extremely fascinating, at this point of the book I was absolutely in love with it. When he later gets to building the ALU, I find that the approach breaks down a bit. The explanations are still excellent for this part, but it didn't take me long to get lost. There were still some takeaways from it, but to me at least it's the wrong medium and needs more hands-on experience (I did not use the webpage by the way). If you also get lost at the ALU, my advice is to push through because it does get better again when he gets into machine code. The last few chapters of the book, added in the second edition from what I understand, are quite useless in my opinion. You get a basic JavaScript tutorial and some instructions on how to use a web browser.

So, the book is not without its problem, but for me it's still an easy 5/5. I came into it having always wondered how on earth one can connect a series of NAND-gates to build anything even resembling a fully functional computer, and I feel I came away from the book with a decent understanding despite not fully understanding everything in it. I think it definitely contains everything you'd need to build a tetris, if so inclined.

Subjects

Computer programming
Coding theory
Datenverarbeitung
Computers
Hardware
Coderingstheorie
Programmatuurtechniek
Einfu hrung
Einführung
Machine theory
Computer architecture
Computer science