How Computers Work
From a Grain of Sand to Artificial Intelligence
Shikhar Singh
Founder & Chairman · KedByte Technologies Private Limited
- Chapters
- 53Chapters
- Parts
- 9Parts
- Words
- 1.1MWords
- Print pages
- 2,350Print pages
Reading blocks in this book
These labels come from the chapters in How Computers Work. Use them to choose a plain-language explanation, technical detail or terminology.
| # | Block | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PLAIN | in simple words |
| 2 | PLAIN | a picture in your head |
| 3 | PLAIN | a worked example |
| 4 | PLAIN | what is really happening inside |
| 5 | TECHNICAL | the engineer's version |
| 6 | WORDS | remember these |
The single pass
Read in order, beginning with Chapter 1: The Whole Machine in One Look. The opening part is The Physical World.
The double pass
Start with the blocks marked PLAIN, then return to the TECHNICAL blocks for more detail.
Find a topic
Use the contents to browse 53 chapters across 9 parts, from The Physical World to The Reference Desk.
From a Grain of Sand to Artificial Intelligence
9 parts, 53 chapters. Open any part to see its chapters, or start at the beginning and keep going.
AThe Physical WorldRock, electricity, silicon, transistors, logic and memory. Everything a computer is made of, before any software exists.Chapters 1–6/Volume 1
BTurning Bits Into MeaningHow switches become numbers, and numbers become text, pictures on a screen and sound in the air.Chapters 7–9/Volume 1
CThe MachineThe processor, the memory ladder, storage, the buses and drivers that join it all up, and how we got here.Chapters 10–14/Volume 1
DSoftwareFrom punched cards to compilers, languages, operating systems, the terminal, and what an executable file really is.Chapters 15–20/Volume 2
ESeeing and ShowingOne key press traced from your finger to the light in your eye, and how the picture is computed.Chapters 21–22/Volume 2
FNetworksSignals, addresses, names, routes and encryption – worked throughout on one real network failure.Chapters 23–34/Volume 3
- 23Networking From Zero - Signals, Ethernet, MAC, ARP and DHCP
- 24IP Addresses, Private and Public, NAT and Carrier-Grade NAT
- 25DNS - From a Name to an Address
- 26Packets and Routing
- 27Traceroute Decoded - Reading Your Own Path
- 28TCP, Ports, and Why a Timeout Is Evidence
- 29Why Mobile Data Worked, and the Diagnostic Method
- 30How the Internet Was Built
- 31Wireless - WiFi, Bluetooth, Cellular and GPS
- 32TLS, HTTPS and the Web Stack
- 33The OSI and TCP/IP Models, Retrofitted to Your Own Session
- 34Firewalls, VPNs, CDNs, IPv6 and the Gaps
GBuilding and Shipping SoftwareThe web, APIs, version control, automation, the cloud and keeping all of it safe.Chapters 35–44/Volume 4
- 35Web and App Development
- 36APIs - What They Are and Where They Came From
- 37Git - Why It Works With No Network
- 38What a Commit Actually Is
- 39The Index, Push, Fetch, Merge and Rebase
- 40Your Own Git Server, and What GitHub Adds
- 41CI/CD and What a "Run" Really Is
- 42SSH, HTTPS, Keys, Tokens and Scopes
- 43Cloud Computing, the Bezos Mandate, AWS and Azure
- 44Security
HGames and Machine IntelligenceHow a game runs sixty times a second, and how a language model is built, judged and used.Chapters 45–51/Volume 5
- 45Games - How They Are Made and How They Run
- 46Machine Learning From Scratch - Fitting, Loss, Gradients and Neural Networks
- 47Parameters, Tokens and Embeddings
- 48The Transformer
- 49How a Model Is Actually Made - Pretraining to Release
- 50Benchmarks, Evaluation, Versions and Dates
- 51Serving, Running One Yourself, RAG, Agents and the Limits
IThe Reference DeskThe numbers, commands, decision trees, timeline and glossary you will come back to.Chapters 52–53/Volume 5
The complete edition, free
2,350 pages as a single PDF, with 5 individual volumes also available. Chapter numbers are identical in every edition, so a cross-reference means the same thing wherever you read it.