Instructions & Programs: Crash Course Computer Science #8

Today we’re going to take our first baby steps from hardware into software! Using that CPU we built last episode we’re going to run some instructions and walk you through how a program operates on the machine level. We'll show you how different programs can be used to perform different tasks, and how software can unlock new capabilities that aren't built into the hardware. This episode, like the last is pretty complicated, but don’t worry - as we move forward into programming the idea of opcodes, addresses, and registers at this machine level will be abstracted away like many of the concepts in this series.

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[ElgonEx]

Thanks to this series, computers for me now are only 30% pure magic.

[connorp]

I had my worries this series would be worthless when the announcement video said lots of history and no coding, but the understanding of what makes up the components of the computer, down to the very circuts, and how computations are done and information is stored using those components, has been much more worthwhile than anything I had in mind when I first heard crash course computer science would be a thing.

There's plenty of other places that could teach me how to code, but this resource is absolutely invaluable, and couldn't be done to this standard anywhere else.

Thanks crash course, this is probably the best series you've ever done.

[WillerASCruz]

One can see that she's really into this stuff. It is always a pleasure to watch someone presenting any subject with such intensity and passion.

[bananafax]

As a computer scientist, I didn't think I'd care for this series, but today I found myself refreshing the page waiting for this week's episode to go live. Well done guys

[niteshupadhyay]

I did four years of electronics engineering but didn't understood much..
thanks Carrie anie you taught me more than my engineering degree

[kae_chips]

This is the most well written and narrated Crash Course series since CC Economics. I love it <3

[student]

What makes CrashCourse great is that each subject is taught by someone different who is truly passionate about it. Hank and John created CrashCourse but they let others collaborate with them to create the best series'. This is unlike many other YouTube channels, in which only one person manages everything, even topics they aren't passionate about (and it shows).

[thedijking]

I'd known about each of these concepts for nearly 3 decades but no one has ever helped me connect the dots, THANK YOU Carrie Anne! In one day I've learnt how each one builds a functioning computer, well done. This has been the most informative thing that I have ever seen, great work.
I'm also finding myself grooving out to the 'next level of abstraction' elevator music, keep it coming.

[armorsmith]

I feel like the set of videos up til now did a good job of taking the "magic" out of computers and breaking down how they can work. I wonder where we go from here: assembly and how to write software with an eye toward explaining functions/arguments/data types? Or perhaps peripherals and operating systems. Or are we going to talk more theoretically about Turing machines vs the Lambda Calculus?

Whichever way, I'm excited!

[irnamosa]

Can someone make a detailed flowchart of ALL the levels of abstraction introduced within this series? It would be absolutely spectacular to see.

[manisandoval]

My mayor in college is computer science and I have to say that I love these videos! They've taught me things that weren't even mentioned in my classes! :D

[matthewegan]

I've been trying to solve a puzzle about dividing numbers for months, and your pseudocode helped give me the answer in just a few minutes. Thanks Crash Course!

[EscapeMCP]

Ooh, triangle wave on the oscilloscope today. Fancy

[mehmet]

What the CrashCourse has done here is providing a fast and solid introduction to assembly language who I am a newbie at. By having seen your video, I progressed much more than the other sources I did with. Thank you very much and greetings.

[timperry]

Always look forward to this Crash Course

[aliciaunderhill]

Thank you for putting together this course! I am a software engineer from a non-traditional background and these videos have been tremendously helpful to solidify the foundations upon which I work every day as a programmer.

[todorokiyosukedesu]

"A New Level of Abstraction" is really a good quote.

[HaloLemur]

I think all of this is much easier to understand if you follow along with the abstraction. Initially I tried to think of everything as a system of transistors and it all became way too much, way too fast, but I realize that you can't really do that, especially with modern computers. I understand how they are all put together—and it helps me understand the rest.
So far, I'm loving this stuff. Thanks, Carrie Anne!

[harmonymelodypress]

I'm a junior majoring in computer science and this has helped reinforce everything I am learning. Thank you for this!

[andysartz]

This series is beyond fascinating! I have always been curious about how computers work, and now I am finally understanding things I've always wanted to know. Thank you! Looking forward to next week's episode! =)