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How Computers Really Work by Matthew Justice
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How Computers Really Work

A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine

A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine

By Matthew Justice

By Matthew Justice

By Matthew Justice

By Matthew Justice

Best Seller
Paperback $39.99

Dec 17, 2020 | ISBN 9781718500662

Ebook $23.99

Dec 29, 2020 | ISBN 9781718500679

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    How Computers Really Work by Matthew Justice
    Paperback $39.99
    Dec 17, 2020 | ISBN 9781718500662

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    • $39.99

      Dec 17, 2020 | ISBN 9781718500662

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 29, 2020 | ISBN 9781718500679

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About How Computers Really Work

    An approachable, hands-on guide to understanding how computers work, from low-level circuits to high-level code.

    How Computers Really Work is a hands-on guide to the computing ecosystem: everything from circuits to memory and clock signals, machine code, programming languages, operating systems, and the internet.

    But you won’t just read about these concepts, you’ll test your knowledge with exercises, and practice what you learn with 41 optional hands-on projects. Build digital circuits, craft a guessing game, convert decimal numbers to binary, examine virtual memory usage, run your own web server, and more.

    Explore concepts like how to:

  • Think like a software engineer as you use data to describe a real world concept
  • Use Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s laws to analyze an electrical circuit
  • Think like a computer as you practice binary addition and execute a program in your mind, step-by-step

    • The book’s projects will have you translate your learning into action, as you:
  • Learn how to use a multimeter to measure resistance, current, and voltage
  • Build a half adder to see how logical operations in hardware can be combined to perform useful functions
  • Write a program in assembly language, then examine the resulting machine code
  • Learn to use a debugger, disassemble code, and hack a program to change its behavior without changing the source code
  • Use a port scanner to see which internet ports your computer has open
  • Run your own server and get a solid crash course on how the web works

    • And since a picture is worth a thousand bytes, chapters are filled with detailed diagrams and illustrations to help clarify technical complexities.

    Requirements: The projects require a variety of hardware – electronics projects need a breadboard, power supply, and various circuit components; software projects are performed on a Raspberry Pi. Appendix B contains a complete list. Even if you skip the projects, the book’s major concepts are clearly presented in the main text.

    About How Computers Really Work

    An approachable, hands-on guide to understanding how computers work, from low-level circuits to high-level code.

    How Computers Really Work is a hands-on guide to the computing ecosystem: everything from circuits to memory and clock signals, machine code, programming languages, operating systems, and the internet.

    But you won’t just read about these concepts, you’ll test your knowledge with exercises, and practice what you learn with 41 optional hands-on projects. Build digital circuits, craft a guessing game, convert decimal numbers to binary, examine virtual memory usage, run your own web server, and more.

    Explore concepts like how to:

  • Think like a software engineer as you use data to describe a real world concept
  • Use Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s laws to analyze an electrical circuit
  • Think like a computer as you practice binary addition and execute a program in your mind, step-by-step

    • The book’s projects will have you translate your learning into action, as you:
  • Learn how to use a multimeter to measure resistance, current, and voltage
  • Build a half adder to see how logical operations in hardware can be combined to perform useful functions
  • Write a program in assembly language, then examine the resulting machine code
  • Learn to use a debugger, disassemble code, and hack a program to change its behavior without changing the source code
  • Use a port scanner to see which internet ports your computer has open
  • Run your own server and get a solid crash course on how the web works

    • And since a picture is worth a thousand bytes, chapters are filled with detailed diagrams and illustrations to help clarify technical complexities.

    Requirements: The projects require a variety of hardware – electronics projects need a breadboard, power supply, and various circuit components; software projects are performed on a Raspberry Pi. Appendix B contains a complete list. Even if you skip the projects, the book’s major concepts are clearly presented in the main text.

    Product Details

    Category: Science & Technology

    Paperback | $39.99
    Published by No Starch Press
    Dec 17, 2020 | 392 Pages | 7 x 9-1/4 | ISBN 9781718500662

    Category: Science & Technology

    Ebook | $23.99
    Published by No Starch Press
    Dec 29, 2020 | 392 Pages | ISBN 9781718500679

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    Praise

    “Much more understandable than most books of this type, even when the author delves deeply into machine code, programming languages, operating systems and the internet. He details 41 hands-on projects, including games, running a web server, and so on. It’s just right for the would-be software engineer.”
    —Joy Schwabach, Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s On Computers

    Table Of Contents

    Introduction
    Chapter 1: Computing Concepts
    Chapter 2: Binary in Action
    Chapter 3: Electrical Circuits
    Chapter 4: Digital Circuits
    Chapter 5: Math with Digital Circuits
    Chapter 6: Memory and Clock Signals
    Chapter 7: Computer Hardware
    Chapter 8: Machine Code and Assembly Language
    Chapter 9: High Level Programming
    Chapter 10: Operating Systems
    Chapter 11: The Internet
    Chapter 12: The World Wide Web
    Chapter 13: Modern Computing
    Appendix A: Answers to Exercises
    Appendix B: Setting Up

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