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Technology

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold
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Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

by Charles Petzold

Charles Petzold’s introduction to the design and working of computers, first published in 1999, aims to introduce a layman to the basic principles of computing, from language and logic through to electrical circuits.

Recommendations from our site

“It gets you to use your imagination to virtually build a computer. It’s easy to read, you can lie down on the couch and enjoy it—it’s not so much of a textbook. It demystifies the magic of a computer and what it is.” Read more...

The best books on Computer Science and Programming

Ana Bell, Technologist

The book, according to the author

“Code was not written for programmers. It is a unique tour through the digital technologies that make our computers work, starting with Morse code and the telegraph, and I wrote it for people who aren’t necessarily computer-savvy.

I first conceived of Code in 1987 while writing the PC Tutor column for PC Magazine. I realized it might be possible to demonstrate how computers work starting from very simple ideas, and for almost a decade I let the book take form in my head before writing a word. Code was the most difficult writing I’ve ever done. But I wanted …to write a book that might have a shelf life of more than two years, and which my family and nonprogrammer friends might want to read.”

From an interview with the author, Amazon.com

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