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.Įlectricity and electrical circuits are introduced when describing how you might communicate with another friend whose window you can’t see from yours. shift characters and escape characters – both of which Braille has). He then moves on to Braille, which is significantly more complex than I thought, and which gives the opportunity to look at some of the more complex things you find in codes (eg. The natural solution to this is Morse code using a torch, and Petzold takes this simple code as a good starting point to explain the concepts of a code. The book starts by looking at the ways you, as a child, might try and communicate with your best friend who lives across the street – after your parents think you’ve gone to bed.

By the end of the book I was itching to buy lots of relays or transformers and make a computer on my living room table!

I knew a fair bit – but I learnt a huge amount from reading it, and it helped me gain a full understanding of what is going on when I write computer programs – right down to the level of the electricity inside the processor. So, it won’t surprise you to know that I am quite interested in how computers work – and picked up this book thinking that I’d already know quite a lot of it. Reference:Â Petzold, C., 2000,Â Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Microsoft Press, 395pp Amazon LinkĪs you’ll probably know if you’ve read many articles on this site: I’m a computer programmer and general ‘geek’. What’s more, it’s a great read too! If you ever wondered how a computer worked then buy this and read it – even if you think you already know (unless you’re, you know, a chip designer at Intel or something!) Summary:Â This book takes you all the way from Morse Code to a fully working computer, explainingÂ everythingÂ along the way. Robin's Blog Review: Code – The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold December 29, 2012

Code charles petzold second edition