How do computers work? A couple of reading suggestions

 

The issue: in my daily work routine, I am constantly bombarded with IT terms like digital processing, algorithm, RAM memory, transistor, CPU, GPU, binary coding, integrated circuit, logical gate, bit depth, etc. With time, you get used to it and get a more or less firm grasp in what these terms mean. But for many years I wondered about how computers actually work, at its most basic level. I felt that this knowledge was lacking for my part and this knowledge gap hindered me from truly understanding the nuances and depths necessary to optimize my use of them. Especially if one is programming. 

The solution: Nowadays there are thousands of Youtube videos covering this subject, so it is a matter of sitting down and leap progressively through the different subjects. I can also recommend a Youtube channel called Computerphile for people who already got the basics and want to understand more about specific concepts or most used algorithms.

Nevertheless, for a more traditional approach, I can recommend two books that explained to me how computers work, in a very easy and enjoyable way. The first is The Pattern on the Stone (Daniel Hillis, 1998). I read it in the early 2000's and I felt that I really got a general overview of how computers work. It is not a long book (less than 200 pages). 

Some years later, I asked a colleague (a data engineer) if he could recommend me a book that explains the fundaments of how computers work, and he immediately came up with the answer. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software (Charles Petzold, 1999). This is the best book I have ever read that covers the basics (I am not the only one praising this book up to the skies, as you can see here and here). It is easy, it moves in a slow and graded way through the hierarchy of subjects, and it is complete, that is, you start from zero and end up being able to build your own mini-computer in the basement (assuming that you have the patience, a soldering iron and a lot of transistors). It does not require much knowledge beforehand, a mid-highschool student would easily understand it. It is even enjoyable to read. And you will end up understanding computers and the digital world in the end. The first edition is old (1999), although it is still very useful, but last year a second edition came out with some extra chapters. This book is longer than my first suggestion, but it is better and I think that this should be obligatory syllabus to all university students in science and technology fields.