Structure

From one switch to one machine

You've made it this far. Starting from a single on and off, all the way to one computer. This isn't a time for learning new things, but a time to see, all at a glance, how the road we've come connects together.

01

Look how far we've come

At first it was on and off,
just that one thing.
We gathered it into judgment,
gathered judgment into addition,
added a way to remember,
and tied it all into a CPU.
Tap each stop
and recall what it was.

Switch · on and off

The start of everything. On (1) and off (0), just two states.

Logic gate · judgment

Adder · addition

Memory · holding a value

CPU · ALU · heart of calculation

Cache · fast memory

Connection · into one machine

Tap a stop to recall

From a switch to a machine, the road we've come.

Each single stop
may have felt hard at the time.
But gathered like this,
it's all connected.
One small switch
became judgment, became calculation,
and became one computer.

02

How a switch became a computer

Here's the amazing part.
All of this
was stacked up
from a single on and off.
Press the button below,
and we'll show you at once
how one switch
grows into one machine.

Switch→

Gate→

Adder·memory→

CPU·cache→

One computer

One on and off stacks up bit by bit into one computer.

Switch → gate → adder → CPU → machine.

It's not some grand magic.
Gather small things,
and gather more on top.
This way of stacking up
is the secret to making a computer.
Even what looks complex
is really a tower of simple things.

03

Which part was it?

It's not a test.
Just a light recall.
For each question,
tap the one you think is right.
It's okay if you don't remember.
You can go back up
and look again.

What calculates and handles instructions?

What has just two states, on and off?

What fast memory keeps often-used values close?

Right turns green, otherwise pick again. No pressure.

Tap the one you think is right.

If it came to mind,
it's already yours.
If it didn't,
that's fine too.
More than the names,
what matters is the feeling
that "small things gather into big ones."

04

From the bottom up

Seen on one page, it's like this.
At the very bottom, on and off,
above it, judgment,
above that, calculation and memory,
above that, the CPU,
at the very top, one computer.
A single tower
where the bottom holds up the top.

One computer

The parts connected by one road

▲

CPU · cache

Calculation tied together, fast memory beside it

▲

Adder · memory

Adding, and holding a value

▲

Logic gate

And, or, not judgment

▲

Switch · on and off

The floor of everything

A computer is a tower stacked layer by layer. Know one layer, and the layer above starts to make sense.

The bottom holds up the top.

So when a computer
feels hard,
just go down one layer at a time.
At the very bottom there's always
on and off,
that simple thing.
Complexity is only stacking.

05

Where to next

This was the body of a computer.
From a switch to a machine,
we built it with our own hands.
Now, how this body
thinks and moves,
we'll meet on the next road.
You did great.

The body of a computer · done

Switch → gate → adder → memory → CPU → cache → machine. All built.

Programming

How to tell a computer what to do

Operating systems

How a computer keeps house

Beyond

Network · data · AI

The body is built, now it is time to see how it thinks and works.

The body is built, so now.

May a computer
no longer be
a dark box to you.
Inside it are on and off,
and the human thought
that stacked them up.
See you on the next road.

In one lineA computer is a tower that starts from a single on and off, stacking judgment, calculation, and memory into one machine. However complex it looks, at the very bottom there's always a simple switch. The body is built, so next is how this body thinks and moves.

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