IBook How Computers Work

--D. Thiebaut 16:05, 18 January 2013 (EST)

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iBook reference

• http://cs.smith.edu/dftwiki/index.php/CSC103:_DT%27s_Notes_1

Table of Contents

• Preface
  • Why
  • Target
• Introduction
  • Steam Boy
  • Mechanical calculators
    • Addition, subtraction, multiplication, divisions...
• Several factors: electrical energy, switches, ON/OFF, binary, number systems, math, boolean logic, Shannon ==> Computer
  • Electricity
    • properties: easy storage, easy distribution, easy generation, fast, easy control
    • ON/OFF
  • Binary system versus decimal system.
  • Boolean Logic, George Boole.
  • Logic with electricity and switches
  • Shannon: Combining Logic and arithmetic
  • From the transistor to logic gates
• Logic Design
  • Logic gate simulator
• Assembly Language
  • Simulator
  • Performance
  • Bottleneck
• Von Neumann Architecture
  • The architecture
  • Computer Architecture: how to bypass the bottleneck
• Example of a High Level Language: Processing
• From Moore's Law to the Singularity.

Style

• Use Python for Everyone by Cay Horstmann as a good example of clear style. Full chapter is available here.