Hey you, yes you, the one looking at the screen. You wonder how things like communication and computers were invented and how they work but aren’t tech savvy? Well, this book is for you, my friend. Now if you wish, come with me to this not-very-deep rabbit hole, and let us see what kind of beautiful engineering is behind your computers at its very core and how it all started…
I got my hands on Code (The First Version) about two months ago, right after the updated version was published. And for the first few days it just lied on a bookshelf, I looked at it and it looked at me, I had no motivation to read it whatsoever. However, in the second week, I got kinda ill, I was laying in bed trying to sleep. But then, I saw it. It was shining… I got up, ran to my bookshelf, and started reading it.
When I first started reading Code, it was… Rather weird, I expected to see graphs and formulas, but I was astonished to see that the author managed to use everyday objects and language systems such as Braille and Morse code to simplify profound topics such as logic gates. And when backed up with pinpointed examples, these examples tend to be self-explanatory. I continued reading the first topic and realized that the way Petzold used was genius! He often doesn’t dive deep into topics but shows you an example that is a buildup to the issue, but this time the example is a short use case. But that buildup is so smooth that I didn’t even realize it.
Then I wondered how an author can write about a topic this deep with perfect examples. To find out I searched his name on the web and found out that he graduated with a Master of Science in Mathematics at the Stevens Institute of Technology and graduated in 1975. Petzold then wrote and published his first book, “Programming Windows, Fifth Edition” in 2000, and one year later “Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software”. Petzold also has written tons of out-of-print books, mainly for Microsoft Windows. The experience of fiddling with computers and writing combined makes writing an easy-to-understand book a lot easier. He used all that experience to write an excellent book that will never become irrelevant even though things such as CRT TVs aren’t popular anymore. Also, the book follows the “Keep It Short And Simple” principle.
That’s why I think if you want to learn how to code or are interested in computers, you should definitely read this book.
Thank you for reading, see you in another post.
