I read the Kindle version, and it's fine. Charles Petzold August 16, 2000 This was a wonderful non-fiction read, especially the first 15 or so chapters. With Code, Petzold sets out to inform a general audience about the inner workings of computers. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. While that chapter was fairly thorough, when I got to later chapters and realized I couldn't quite grok what was going on in these chips, it was hard for me to tell whether I was holding myself back by not fully understanding the concepts of Chapter 17, or if Petzold was simply glossing over some of the details that might have clued me in. Such a fun and interesting book. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. Petzold maintains a good balance: the pace is comfortable, and the tone is informal while at the same time incorporating the appropriate technical terminology to accurately convey the subject matter without obscuring it by unnecessarily avoiding precision out of fear that the reader will be turned off by too much jargon. Knowledge is empowering! The more I interact with software, the more those interactions reflect their makers and materials. As Mr. Petzold states in the preface, Code is “a unique journey through the evolution of the digital technologies that define the modern age.” So, how computers work? There are no discussion topics on this book yet. With a desire to learn how the high level code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) There is a very practical emphasis on everything – and the point about the importance of binary as on/off, true/false, open/closed and so on, is very much emphasised. His story begins with a description of various ways of coding information including Braille, Morse code, and binary code. In 1949, he wrote the first article about programming a computer to play chess, and in 1952 he designed a mechanical mouse controlled by relays that could learn its way around a maze. Its really hard to understand chapter 17 ,help? So, while Code goes fairly deep into the workings of the computer (few other books show how computer processors actually work, for example), the pace is fairly relaxed. It does at points get pretty deep into the weeds but I really appreciated the author's efforts to provide such an exhaustive dive into how computers work (and I regained much of my awe at these machines we take so for granted nowadays). Your email address will not be published. Book Review: Code by Charles Petzold Charles Petzold is perhaps best known for his books on programming Windows applications. Starting from workings of an electrical circuit and building up to various logical elements with gradually increasing complexity. Much appreciated, thank you! By saying 'engineering', I mean it. Robin's Blog Review: Code – The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold December 29, 2012. Chapter 17 ("Automation"), however, was where I began to feel a bit in over my head. You’ll note that nothing about computers has been introduced yet – and that is a key feature of the first part of the book, it doesn’t go straight in to “this is how a computer works”, it starts at a very basic (but still interesting) level that becomes useful when thinking about computers later in the book, but isn’t too scary. Now I do. Code is never mentioned in that group, and for good reason. This book has really taught me a lot, despite the fact that many of the later chapters lost me somewhat; it felt like it became much more complicated and hard to follow after the earlier chapters, which were great, slowly paced and well explained. If you know a better one, I want to read it. Overall: a great read, very interesting and very educational. Interview with Charles Petzold regarding Code on the Amazon.com web site. If you work with computers and didn't read this book, you are lame. Recommended for anyone who would really like to understand the basic concepts behind computer technology, but doesn't want to go back to graduate school. You won’t be disappointed. - The Basic Principles of Computers for Everyone, New African American Histories and Biographies to Read Now. From logic gates, to adding circuits and subtracting circuits and from clocks to flip-flops and RAM you gradually work up to a full, programmable computer which you have basically built by page 260! You may be able to obtain copies of the hardcover edition from online booksellers listed on my Books page. Petzold goes back to the very basics to explain how to build a computer (of sorts) from the ground up. Welcome back. Best bottom-up education ever. Surprisingly interesting. This book is quite incredible. I really liked the gradual introduction to concepts of increasing complexity where each builds on the one before it. Petzold showed the staff some small assembly-language programs he had written. A few chapters were tempting to skim For example, Petzold incl. Your email address will not be published. Petzold spends a long time laying down the basic blocks of electrical engineering before progressing to how bits flow through. The benefits of an academic website « Robin's Blog, Pint + SQLAlchemy = Unit consistency and enforcement in your database, Creating an email service for my son’s childhood memories with Python. ), Reference: Petzold, C., 2000, Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Microsoft Press, 395pp Amazon Link. The majority of the book, however, is great - I had never really delved into logic gates and circuitry, so it was truly eye-opening even if I couldn't fully understand some parts. The route between those two points is the interesting part, and there was some parts that I foudn really illuminating and important. If not already, it soon will be, a staple of computer science literature. While I did enjoy the later chapters as well, much of it felt so rushed compared to the earlier, slower pace of the book. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. Charles Petzold has been writing about programming for Windows-based operating systems for 24 years. In a way, this is a perfect book on the topic. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We are not makers of history. The last chapter of the book felt a bit rushed and ended abruptly, but maybe that’s just my wanting the book to go on longer/end at present day. And I should understand the logic behind the center of my life, right? From circuits with a battery, switch and bulb to logic gates to a thorough description of the Intel 8080. It carries you along from the very fundamentals of both codes (like braille) and electric circuits in the telegraph days all the way to the web in a way that even a layperson could understand, with plenty of verbal and diagrammatic explanation. Very close to my ideal book. It's detailed enough to give you a sense on how things work, yet not overly complicated to intimidate you. One - in this case one in how the Queen would use this - cannot really talk about this book without comparing it to. This book basicaly tries to take you from the very basics of how to encode information, such as how binary is used to represent complex information, to understanding how a computer uses information like this to perform intricate operations. The last chapter of the book felt a bit rushed and ended abruptly, but maybe that’s just my wanting the book to go on longer/end at present day. QUCS - untested; ngSpice - untested; Other? Unlike other computer science books, the 'Code' teaches how computers work in a nutshell. But without little drawings of trains carrying a cargo of zeros and ones. Code has no drawings of trains carrying a cargo of zeros and ones. I'll be honest. I write on a daily basis actually makes its way through the magical land that is a computer and returns pleasantries to a human being behind the screen, I sat down with this "Code" book. This book is for us. The book takes the approach of constructing the computer “on the paper and in our minds” — that's great when you're at least a little familiar with the topic, maybe not so when trying to discover a completely unknown territory (but the author takes great lengths to go through everything step by step — e. g. the various gates, binary subtraction, memory handling, etc.). Book Review: Code by Charles Petzold. A Microsoft MVP for Client Application Development and a Windows Pioneer Award winner, Petzold is author of the classic, “Code is not like other how-computers-work books. It is a great book, I demystified some thoughts I had about software architecture. It carries you along from the very fundamentals of both codes (like braille) and electric circuits in the telegraph days all the way to the web in a way that even a layperson could understand, with plenty of verbal and diagrammatic explanation. 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