This book is called Code, but it isn't so much about Programming. It is more about its subtitle, The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, and I would say it's definitely more about the Hardware part. But the book is still about Code in the sense of manipulating electricity by using only 2 possible states of on and off, (ones and zeroes), to make computations that can then be transformed into information. It explains the software part of Code from the ground up taking you from electrons, to simple light bulb switches on a battery, to integrated circuits, and finally to what we call today a computer.

The first couple of chapters that tackle the concept of Code, or Codes, was what made me start reading the book. The first chapter with the Flashlight, followed by Morse code, Braille, and then Binary, are excellent demonstrations on how we can use numbers to communicate meaningful information. But the book starts getting a bit dense with many detailed diagrams that only someone with a background in Electrical Engineering would consider 'basic'. While I found all that stuff interesting, a lot of it went over my head. It became a bit of a chore to get through the book.

The book is also dated since it was published in 2000 when CRT(Cathode Ray Tubes) Monitors are the most prevalent computer monitor and solid state drives aren't a thing yet. A lot has changed in 20+ years.

Overall, for someone that has always been curious about how "the metal" works inside, this is an excellent foundational deep-dive into how it all works.

Jan 23 2022 by Jay Cruz

books computer science