How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the
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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 conceptUse Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s laws to analyze an electrical circuitThink 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 voltageBuild a half adder to see how logical operations in hardware can be combined to perform useful functionsWrite a program in assembly language, then examine the resulting machine codeLearn to use a debugger, disassemble code, and hack a program to change its behavior without changing the source codeUse a port scanner to see which internet ports your computer has openRun 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.
From the Publisher
‘Just Right’
“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, The Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s On Computers
‘Nails It’
“[Author] Justice nails it. He gives a concise — but extremely lucid — explanation of electronics, binary numbers, and gates — and then goes on to explain how a computer really works! It is the best explanation of the CPU, memory arrays, buses, etc. that I’ve ever encountered — and all without any prerequisite knowledge of a computer language.”
—Dr. L., Amazon Reviewer
‘Easy and Straightforward’
“The author incredibly blends electronics and computing concepts (CPU, programming, operating system, etc.) that truly (with its easy and straightforward layout) helps you understand what’s going on in a computer.”
—Mr. Chi Y Pang, Amazon Reviewer
About the Author
Matthew Justice is a software engineer. He spent 17 years at Microsoft where he took on various roles, including debugging the Windows kernel, developing automated fixes, and leading a team of engineers responsible for building diagnostic tools and services. He has worked on low-level software (the operating system) and on software far removed from the underlying hardware (such as web applications). Matthew has a degree in electrical engineering. When he’s not writing code or building circuits, Matthew enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, reading, arranging music, and playing old video games.
Who Should Read this Book
This book is for anyone who wants to understand how computers work. You don’t need to have any prior knowledge of the topics covered — we begin with the basics. On the other hand, if you already have a background in programming or electronics, this book can help you expand your knowledge in other areas. The book is written for the self-motivated learner, someone who is comfortable with basic math and science, and who is already familiar with using computers and smartphones, but who still has questions about how they work. Teachers should find the content useful, too, as the projects are a good fit for the classroom.
About the Publisher
No Starch Press has published the finest in geek entertainment since 1994, creating both timely and timeless titles like Python Crash Course, Python for Kids, How Linux Works, and Hacking: The Art of Exploitation. An independent, San Francisco-based publishing company, No Starch Press focuses on a curated list of well-crafted books that make a difference. They publish on many topics, including computer programming, cybersecurity, operating systems, and LEGO. The titles have personality, the authors are passionate experts, and all the content goes through extensive editorial and technical reviews. Long known for its fun, fearless approach to technology, No Starch Press has earned wide support from STEM enthusiasts worldwide.
Publisher : No Starch Press (December 17, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 392 pages
ISBN-10 : 1718500661
ISBN-13 : 978-1718500662
Item Weight : 1.6 pounds
Dimensions : 7 x 0.9 x 9.25 inches
13 reviews for How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the
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Original price was: $39.99.$30.71Current price is: $30.71.
BobDole –
Knowledgeable read!
I liked the hands on approach the author uses to get the reader involved in the topics discussed in the book!
Thomas –
A clearly written book that covers important concepts without glossing over the details.
I enjoyed this book and learnt a lot from it. Matthew writes clearly, includes real-world examples, gets into the technical details, and provides interesting stories of his time working on software engineering at Microsoft. The equipment to complete the practical exercises will cost about $100.Here is a summary of each chapter:Chapter 1: explains decimal number system (which we use in everyday life) and the binary and hexadecimal number systems used in computing.Chapter 2: encoding: now that you know about binary numbers, how do we represent the alphabets of the world in binary numbers? Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR) are also explained.Chapter 3: fundamentals of electric circuits. Voltage, current, and resistance. How these three relate to each other, described in Ohm’s law.Chapter 4: how to build logical operators in the form of electrical circuits. Transistors explained. Integrated circuits explained.Chapter 5: arithmetic of binary numbers. How binary arithmetic can be carried out by electrical circuits built with logical operators.Chapter 6: how a bit can be stored in an electrical circuit called an SR Latch. Sequential logic circuits. How clock signals advance a sequential logic circuit.Chapter 7: the primary hardware components of a computer and how they work together to perform instructions provided by software.Chapter 8: how hardware must receive instructions in the form of machine code. Different examples of machine code and what instructions they convey. Assembly language is a more human-readable form of machine code.Chapter 9: how high-level programming languages (C, Python, etc.) are based on machine code. The advantages of writing in a high-level programming language as opposed to machine code. Various other concepts important in high-level programming.Chapter 10: on operating systems. How an operating system manages the computer’s hardware, allowing multiple applications and programs to run at the same time. The major OSs, the types of hardware they typically manage, and their history and common origins.Chapter 11: the internet. A description of the physical components of the internet and the protocols they use to communicate.Chapter 12: how people use the infrastructure provided by the internet to create web pages and web services. The markup languages, programming languages, and data structures that are most frequently used to create web pages and web services.Chapter 13: a brief description of emerging computer technologies: Apps, Bitcoin, cloud computing, virtual reality and augmented reality.
Stephane –
Great for beginners
I whimsically developed a desire to learn about computers and this book has been great. It starts at the barebones fundamentals and explains things clearly for beginners. Love the hands on experiments as well.
J. –
CARVE IT IN STONE!
Here is my quick review about this AWESOME book, but first here’s a caveat:You have to be interested in learning the material. I mean, that’s why you are thinking about purchasing this book, right?Here is what I have to say about this book… “IT DESERVES TO BE CARVED IN STONE OK, OK; IN THIS DAY AND AGE IT CAN BE LASER ENGRAVED ON METAL PLATES.”enough said?Buy the book, you’ll love it.It’s in my Top 10 favorite books of all time.An enormous thank you to the author Mathew, Justice for undertaking the task of writing this very comprehensive book.A huge thank you to his parents, wife and his daughters for the support they provided him.And also a big thank you to the entire team at No Starch Press for supporting the publication of this book for it has literally changed my life! 🙂
Dimitri –
Best introductory and comprehensive book on Computer topics.
This is the most clear, concise, objective, yet comprehensive book on computer basics that I have encountered so far. Additionally, the hands on projects and exercises are very well balanced in terms of difficulty.
Jon –
Outstanding explanation of computer details
Matthew Justice has a profound knowledge of computers and does a great job of explaining how they work. The author does not gloss over details and carefully defines terms such as “address space”, “threads”, “virtual memory” and so on. This is an eminently readable book.
Francisco M. Gonzalez Sierra –
Excellent introduction to computers!
This is a great overall intro to computers.
catfish –
Degree required
It’s not for starters or even halfway…be careful
Carol –
Por algum motivo, o livro veio sem plástico, com um pequeno amassado, achei estranho, pois o livro que pedi é novo e deveria ter vindo lacrado… Quanto ao livro, acredito ser uma boa referência.
Giuseppe –
Riveting
Val –
Arrived quickly (before than expected), I find it easy to read and it’s a good book 🙂 Good stuff
Pecka –
I think I will have to re-read this book, or at least parts of it to fully grasp everything.It starts out with the low level stuff like binary arithmetics, boolean algebra and electric and switching circuits. In the beginning everything is very basic, but soon turns pretty complex and a lot of it went over my head to be honest. I feel the author may have rushed a bit here, or maybe I’m just a slow learner.To get the most out if this book you will need to get the proper electronic components and a Raspberry Pi so you can do all the exercises and projects. The answers and solutions to all of these are at the end of the book.You’re also being introduced to assembly language, C, Python and basic web development.I liked the later chapters that are about operating systems, the Internet, WWW and modern computing. I learned quite a few new things there.This is a good and well written book that I can recommend, but No Starch Press have other books that seems to cover much of the same topics like ”Introduction to Computer Organization” and ”The Secret Life of Programs”. You may want to consider them also.
H.P.J.M. –
I have been a software developer/engineer for the last 3-4 years. I didn’t study computer science at university, but I always had a nagging feeling that I needed to learn more about the fundamentals of computers and computer science. I’ve read textbooks, did the Harvard CS course, and picked up pieces here and there. But it was only after reading this book that that feeling went away, and in its place is more confidence and a continued desire to learn more (because it’s an enormous and fascinating field).I cannot recommend this book highly enough for someone who wants to see how the various aspects of computers “glue” (not literally) together. Justice starts from binary/hexadecimal, binary math and Boolean logic, showing how these can be represented in electrical circuits. There is a section on computer organisation before it turns to software, programming, operating systems, and networking. There is a chapter on the web and then one on various other interesting developments.The explanations are fantastic, with clear examples. It is also chock-a-block with exercises and projects, which are well worth doing (buying the electronics etc will cost 100-200 quid but are a great investment), ranging from building circuits to doing port scans on a Raspberry Pi. They help you really see what is happening.After finishing this book I feel far more prepared to do a deep dive on some of the topics covered. Great job, Matthew Justice.