Chapter intro: Inside the computer

For the last three chapters, this course wrote information down: numbers, characters, pictures and sound. It even found ways to make every one of those smaller. This chapter stops writing information down. It opens the box: the machine that actually reads what you wrote.

Here's the whole chapter on your screen now, plus a couple of things worth knowing before you start.

It starts with hardware and software - the actual difference between the two. Then it opens the processor itself and looks at what is inside it. Next come the parts that carry a single instruction through that processor. After that, the cycle those parts run, over and over, without stopping. Then it asks what actually makes one processor faster than another. And it finishes outside the desktop altogether, inside the everyday objects around you.

One quick thing before the list: each video carries a short, searchable code beside its title. Take The fetch-execute cycle. Search ScholaFly C S oh four, oh four. That exact video comes straight up.

There's also a thumbs-up on every video. Tap it once something has properly landed. The video then marks itself as done. Anything left without a thumbs-up becomes your revision list without you doing a thing. If something hasn't clicked yet, save it to a playlist instead - a lot of this settles on a second watch, not the first. And my commitment to you is this: if I've not done a great job teaching something and it's confusing, leave a comment, and I'll have a crack at making a better video.

Next in the chapter is Hardware and software. Hopefully that's next in your feed - but if not, search for ScholaFly C S oh four, oh one. You opened this chapter with numbers written down - now go and meet the machine that reads them.

For more, visit scholafly.com, or watch the next video.