Meir's Monthly Learning Article

This month I want to highlight a video, Machine Code Explained, by Matt Godbolt on the Computerphile YouTube channel. This video does a fantastic job explaining the simplicity of how CPUs and memory operate, which hasn’t changed much over the decades. Modern computing is abstractions built on abstractions, which increases complexity to enable higher level thinking and outcomes. As we continue to build on these abstractions we lose sight of how computers operate, with that knowledge relegated to fewer and fewer people. This video reminds us that, at their core, computers are simple machines that do exactly as they are told. Through understanding the inner workings of CPUs, memory, cache, and other hardware constructs, we demystify the problems that invariably occur during software creation.

“…and even now when I sit down and try and solve computer problems, especially performance and tech-y things, I mentally picture the things that I picked up from a book in 1985…”