2 The Animated Computer

The Animated Computer text describes and diagrams the details of computer design.This is done at various levels of the computer system. Here I call the levels contexts.

This is a well illustrated textbook on computer architecture, computer organization, and computer design.

The various parts of the computer are diagrammed and described. The diagrams are easy to understand and the descriptions are easy to read and understand. The book discusses computer design in great detail.

My discussion of the computer system organizes the computer into contexts and variations on such contexts. The contexts are defined by the particular internal signaling processes that are involved. Similar signaling capability belongs together. The computer is built on these signaling processes.

Contexts with different signaling capability are considered separately. Such distinctions provide the background for illustrations and discussions of computer processes.

I cover basic circuits and how they are designed and built. I call this section 'Silicon and Aluminum'. I then cover the logical circuits that are the basis for the computer being logical. I then cover the arithmetic of the computer. The ultimate design can only be understood from an understanding of this arithmetic.

The information the computer is using needs to be stored. Circuits are used in logic and also in storage. There is also need to communicate inside the computer. This communication is done by buses and also, more recently, by packet protocols. The computer is using network like protocols to send data from one place in the computer to another. I also discuss network protocols for networking between computers in more detail.

The center of the computer is the central processor. This is the invention of the computer. I go into great detail on the central processor. I call this section the 'Heart of the Computer'. Among other things I show how the registers in the CPU are changed as a small set of typical commands are run in the 'Fetch, Decode, Execute' cycle. I also discuss the ALU cycle and how the arithmetic-logic unit is designed.

I examine the instruction set of a typical computer, the micro architecture design of modern CPU chips, and the translating of an assembly language program to machine language as an example of compiling modern programming languages in general.

The last two chapters are on the operating systems and peripherals of the computer. Understanding the operating system is very important to understanding how a computer works. Peripherals have become a major part of a computer as the input and output takes our data and uses it to produce information we can understand. I have lengthy section on the design of flat screens.

This textbook is a comprehensive work and provides a basic for a detailed understanding of how the computer works. Everyone can read this book as the nook is written for easy understanding. But the book is also detailed in the coverage of computer design issues. I think you will enjoy reading it and it will inform you about computer design as no other textbook can.

The Animated Computer Textbook

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Jerome Heath

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UberMann