How Computers Work: The Basic Principles of Computers For Everyone

Computers really have allowed us to do some pretty amazing things: global telecommunications, international commerce, global transportation, breakthrough in medicine, distributed education, online shopping, online dating, just the Internet in general. Computers are allowing us to explore our own world and other worlds, and of course some seemingly mundane things like permitting us to spy on our pets from work or communicate with our friends in a nearly indecipherable stream of emoji! But don’t call computers magical. They ARE NOT magical. So before we get into what this book is about, it might be useful you to know what this book is not going to teach you. This book is not about how to program. Programming is a really crucial aspect of computer software, and we will get to the rules that guide the logic of hardware and software design. But this book is not about how to program an Arduino Uno to water your plant or how to change the CSS on your grandma’s sewing blog so visitors’ cursors turn into kittens. This book also is not a computing book. Or at least how computing is thought of in the U.S Computing here is a goal – it is what computers do. Our goal for this book is much broader. But computing means other things in other countries. It is all pretty confusing. But we are going to look at the history of computers… even before humans had electricity. The book is going retrace the design decisions that have given us our president-day components. Book is about how Operating Systems work… or do not work… how smartphones and other smart devices are… well getting smarter. Computers are these amazing devices that are always making our lives easier and they inarguable have become pivotal in our society. From our cars and thermostats to pacemakers and cellphones, computers are everywhere, and by the end of this book you will have better understanding and appreciation for how far we have come and how far they may take us.