21–30 of 62 posts
I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...
I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...
I did start getting lost around the second half of the book.
Another book I particularly like in the same style are Feynman (lesser known) lectures on computation: https://amzn.to/2SSoJaR where he takes you from single instructions all the way to quantum computing
I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...
I love this kind of Books! In a much more general tone, there is "The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World After An Apocalypse" by Lewis Dartnell. This explains the first principles of a lot of things we take for granted in the modern world, from agriculture to food and clothing, medicine, chemistry and more. This book about CS principles is a great complement to that!
I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...
Code 's good but it doesn't cover Kleisli categories and Kleisli composition, Peano arithmetic, parametric polymorphism, sum types, pattern matching, or any of numerous other things covered in Maguire's How These Things Work . So it's not accurate to say Code is "far more comprehensive"; Code mentions FORTRAN, ALGOL, COBOL, PL/1, and BASIC, but the example programs it contains are written in assembly, ALGOL, and BASI…
I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...
I heard an expression this weekend that I think is apt - a computer is to computer science as a telescope is to astronomy.
I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...
I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...