Charles Petzold - Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

The gist:

* Text book posing as non-fiction

* Lightens up what should be a dry subject

* Clean, crisp prose makes for a good read

This book was written just for me.

OK, maybe that's not entirely true -- I have never met Charles Petzold and, beyond his definitive guide on programming the Win32 API (all coder geeks know what I'm talking about), I have never had any exposure to him. But somehow, it feels as though "Code" was written just for me.

I say this because it approaches the topic in a way that doesn't talk down to its audience but also doesn't expect them to hold a degree in computer science.

If you are planning on getting a degree in computer science or are a computer professional who never got such a degree, you need to read this book. And, even if you have a passing interest in how these often infuriating machines work, you will get more out of this book than any community college course could teach you.

Code is not just a loose overview at what drives our computers -- it is an in-depth look at just how these machines work. Petzold begins by explaining what a code is: a means of communication. That's it. He then describes several codes and their structure, eventually watering them down to a binary system.

What's a binary system? Well, Petzold delves into that area as well, explaining the idea of base 2, base 8, base 4 and other number systems and how they relate to base 10, which is what we use on a daily basis. From here, he jumps into how Binary can be used for anything from the codes he has already discussed to a mathematical model for logic.

Petzold spares nothing. If he introduces a new concept, he efficiently and thoroughly defines it before showing you what it does. Before you know it, you know what an edge-triggered D flip-flop is, and you realize it's not as complex as it sounds.

And he leads you along a clean path that teaches you just about everything most computer science students struggle through for their first couple of years but with a minimum of pain. By the time you're halfway through the book, you understand the very basics of how a computer works, including how it stores memory, adds and subtracts and, basically, does anything a computer can do. And you have about 200 pages more to go.

I bought this book assuming it would be a fairly abstract and philosophical look at how computers work. I though Petzold would treat his subject much the same way Stephen Hawking treated quantum mechanics in "A Brief History of Time" -- he would introduce you to concepts, but wouldn't go into the math for fear it would turn readers away.

I was wrong. And I'm so glad. Yes, the topic gets dense at times, but it's written in such a way that, if you get lost, you can simply read back a few paragraphs and easily follow what's going on. Petzold is a master at taking the complex and making it accessible.

The topic of how computers operate and such is treated as a text book would -- it goes into the math, demonstrates the concepts and asks you to follow along. All of the gory details are there. If you're interested in how a computer works, but only want a cursory view of it, you probably won't need this book. But, boy, would it be your loss if you passed it up.

If you got a B- in high school algebra, you can handle this book. It may take some patience, but Petzold's engaging prose will make you feel smart just for reading it. And even if you don't understand everything that's going on, you'll walk away with more knowledge about how a computer really works than many of the folks coding the web pages you regularly surf. And that alone is worth the price of the book.