“Code” 2nd Edition

#1

Post by emme » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:14 PM UTC

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#2

Post by Minor49er » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:34 PM UTC

This is great news. This book has been highly regarded for being able to explain the magic behind what makes a computer actually work. The new edition has about 70 pages of additional material.

There is also a companion website that is under construction that already has a delightful amount of interactivity, showing how binary switches, relays, and gates work:

https://www.codehiddenlanguage.com/

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#3

Post by kris-s » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:36 PM UTC

One of my all-time favorite works of non-fiction. Essential reading for software engineers.

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#4

Post by nightski » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:37 PM UTC

Bought it! I own the first one and it's just a fantastic book. I've shared it with family members to help them understand how computers work (more tech savvy ones at least). But yeah love this one.

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#5

Post by stevoski » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

This book (1st edition, at least) is astonishing. Perhaps the best book for coders that I’ve ever read. I recommend it to all the HN crowd.

Reading it, I felt like I actually understood how computers worked, right down to the “electricity going through wires” level and lower, and how that builds up to if-then statements, etc, in a high-level language.

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#6

Post by peterkelly » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

One of the best computing books I've ever read. Looking forward to checking out the new edition.

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#7

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

peterkelly wrote: post #6

One of the best computing books I've ever read. Looking forward to checking out the new edition.

[deleted]

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#8

Post by bluedino » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

My favorite Petzold book is 'Programming Windows 95'

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#9

Post by ultrasounder » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

Great. There goes my summer.:-) Essentially read this book with my 14 old Aspie and help him understand and appreciate Software and the hardware it runs on it. Thanks for posting this here.

Re: “Code” 2nd Edition

#10

Post by scop » Fri, Jun 10, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

This book was absolutely essential when I was first sinking my teeth into software programming. Things that seemed either arbitrary or completely mysterious suddenly made sense now that I had a contextual understanding of how computers worked. Without having that knowledge, I think my career would have been vastly more difficult and frustrating.

While I understand many “get started programming” books/tutorials put an emphasis on getting coding asap, I really had to stop and learn about computers before I could start coding in a well rounded way (and that’s coming from a WebDev, who doesn’t even have to deal with low-level stuff too often!).

Thank you Mr. Petzold!!!