Wow, found your github from this and getting insane imposter syndrome haha, very impressive work
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I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
111–120 of 327 posts
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#112[deleted]
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#113[dead]
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't done the research, but I can't believe most of the information could be that hard to find or wrong, at least if you know where to look. These sorts of topics are usually well-covered in the matching undergraduate-level computer science courses (computer architecture and operating systems, which, these days, are mostly optional since out of fashion). Several universities have free courses available, and some…
"Wrong" is perhaps not the most accurate word. I most often found information to be either extremely oversimplified such as to be unhelpful, or outdated and no longer relevant for current systems. Although, yes, some things were just wrong. There are courses and presentations and books, but there aren't many websites or articles — and that's the learning style that works best for me. Undergrad programs will teach a l…
Ultimately, diving deeper with only websites and articles can be quite challenging. I experienced this myself trying to learn more about the continuation passing style transformation in a compiler. No online websites or articles discussed the topic with any kind of depth.
Ultimately I read the classic book "Compiling with Continuations", and it basically cleared up all my confusions.
All of this is to say, don't discount books and courses. They will almost always be more in depth and correct than what you will find written up on a website.
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#115Hi! I'm Lexi, I wrote this article/mini-book. There's a classic question of "what happens when you load a website?", but I've always been more interested in "what happens when you run a program?". About 3 months ago, I was really annoyed at myself for not knowing how to answer that question so I decided to teach myself. I taught myself everything else I know in programming, so this should be easy, right? NOPE! Appare…
Others have already mentioned how high-quality this is, but I feel the need to reinforce it. The content is excellent, the framing is smooth, the presentation is accessible, and gorgeous. And beyond all that, you also ensured that the generated PDF is high-quality.
I'm incredibly impressed. Keep up the great work, but most importantly, hold on to your passion and care!
All the best,
-HG
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#116This is on my reading list. This little bit sold me on it in the past: > The bottom of every page is padded so readers can maintain a consistent eyeline. Such a tiny and, in hindsight, obvious detail. It's surprisingly pleasant. When I noticed that, I knew I had a passion project in front of me.
There are quite a few very nice UI touches. I think the bit about the author (authors?) being 17 is relevant because it seems like they put a lot of thought about how to represent a book on the web and came up with some new conventions, just like you'd expect from a new generation. The chapter navigation widget at the top for example, where the previous and next chapters are slightly opaque. Haven't seen that before.
Yeah, that simple frontend definitely got a lot more thought than your average shitty convoluted company website.
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Wrong" is perhaps not the most accurate word. I most often found information to be either extremely oversimplified such as to be unhelpful, or outdated and no longer relevant for current systems. Although, yes, some things were just wrong. There are courses and presentations and books, but there aren't many websites or articles — and that's the learning style that works best for me. Undergrad programs will teach a l…
Ultimately, diving deeper with only websites and articles can be quite challenging. I experienced this myself trying to learn more about the continuation passing style transformation in a compiler. No online websites or articles discussed the topic with any kind of depth. Ultimately I read the classic book "Compiling with Continuations", and it basically cleared up all my confusions. All of this is to say, don't disc…
I think you are very correct, and I don't like it. There should be more "online books" that are in depth and correct!
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#118Damn. If you're producing this type of content at 17, I can't even imagine the amazing things you'll be able to do it you choose to pursue the field professionally. Absolutely amazing!!
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#119wow 17! excellent work. You're going places for sure if you keep this up. I would guess even most working Devs don't have any real concept of how things work at the CPU level let alone during high school.
Re: I'm 17 and wrote this guide on how CPUs run programs
#120Very nicely written, and congrats on doing such a deep dive on this kind of topic. These days 17 year olds can get away with "programming" by gluing things they don't understand, but I think they'll eventually hit a ceiling. So what you're doing is super valuable, not for yourself, but for everyone else who will learn from your materials. Well done :) EDIT: now go write an emulator if you haven't already, it's a ton…
> These days 17 year olds can get away with "programming" by gluing things they don't understand 17 to 21-ish is probably my least gluey era of programming. I wrote an MVC framework from scratch, built my own interpreter, my own compiler, accidentally tried to reinvent machine learning and NLP from scratch, all sorts of cool and wonderful things. Then I discovered money and prior art. Wow you can build things so much…
Programming was more fun before I learned how to import libraries. So many things I wrote from scratch... JSON parsers, distributed K/V stores, optimization algorithms, UI frameworks etc. From 17-21 nobody expected me to be Uber-productive so I just kind of went off and coded these things from scratch for months at a time. Good times.