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A computer in its simplest form comprises five functional
units: the input unit, the output unit, the memory unit, the
arithmetic & logic unit (ALU), and the control unit.
Program execution involves the CPU fetching instructions
sequentially one-by-one from the main memory. The CPU then
decodes the instruction and performs the specified operation
on associated data operands, typically in the ALU. The internal
operation of the computer can be summarized as: Fetch,
Decode, and Execute steps.
An instruction generally consists of two parts: an Operation
code (Opcode) and one or more operands. The Opcode
specifies the operation to be performed, and the operands are
the data or addresses associated with that operation.
The Program Counter (PC) register keeps track of the
execution of the program. It specifically holds the address of
the next instruction to be read from memory after the current
instruction is executed. Instruction words are read and
executed in sequence unless a branch instruction is
encountered.
The ALU performs the actual computation or processing of
data, containing necessary logic circuits (like adders and
comparators) to perform operations such as addition,
multiplication, and comparison. The Control Unit (CU)
coordinates the activities of all units by issuing control signals.
The CU also reads and interprets (decodes) the program
instructions.
Transcript
00:00Have you ever really stopped to think about the device you're using right this second?
00:04I mean, it's basically a box of refined sand, metal, and plastic.
00:08And yet, it connects you to the entire world,
00:11runs unbelievably complex software,
00:14and seems to understand your every command.
00:16It feels like magic, doesn't it?
00:18Well, today we're going to pull back the curtain on this everyday magic.
00:21So let's just dive right in with the big central question.
00:25How on earth does this inanimate object follow our instructions?
00:29How does it actually work?
00:31To get to the bottom of that,
00:32we're going to build our understanding from the ground up, piece by piece.
00:36We'll start with what a computer even is,
00:38peek inside its brain, learn its language,
00:41check out its memory system, see how it thinks,
00:43and then zoom out to see how all this leads to the supercomputers that are shaping our world.
00:48Okay, let's get into it.
00:50Before we can understand how a computer works,
00:52we need to agree on what it actually is.
00:54I know, it sounds basic, but its core identity is really important.
00:58The absolute keyword here is programmable.
01:01Think about it.
01:02A simple calculator is built to do one thing, math.
01:05But a computer, you can give it a totally new set of instructions,
01:08a new program, and it can solve a completely different problem.
01:11That's the game changer right there.
01:12So, if a computer's main job is to run all these different programs,
01:17what's the part that's actually doing all the heavy lifting?
01:20Let's take a look inside the engine room.
01:23Meet the central processing unit, the CPU.
01:26This thing is the absolute heart of the machine.
01:28You can think of it as the command center,
01:30where all the important action happens.
01:32And it's really made of two crucial parts that work together.
01:36Okay, so this is where the raw number crunching goes down.
01:40The arithmetic logic unit, or ALU.
01:43This is the mathematician in the duo.
01:45It's doing all the adding, subtracting, you know, the math.
01:48But it also handles logic, which is just as important.
01:52It answers questions like, is 64 greater than 65?
01:56So, if the ALU is the mathematician,
01:58the control unit is the director of the whole show.
02:01It doesn't do any of the math itself.
02:03Nope.
02:04Instead, it reads the program's instructions
02:06and just tells everyone else what to do.
02:08It tells the ALU what numbers to crunch
02:10and tells the memory where to get the data
02:12and where to put the answers.
02:13It's the ultimate orchestra conductor.
02:16Right.
02:16So, we've got a director and a mathematician in the CPU.
02:20But, what language are they speaking?
02:22You might be shocked at how incredibly simple it is.
02:25The entire, and I mean entire, vocabulary of a computer
02:29starts right here, with a zero.
02:32You can think of it as off.
02:34And this, this is the only other word it knows.
02:38A one, which means on.
02:41Seriously, that's the whole thing.
02:43Now, let that sink in for a second.
02:44Every single photo you've ever seen,
02:47every song you've listened to,
02:48every app on your phone.
02:50At the most fundamental level,
02:51it's all just a ridiculously long and complicated sequence
02:54of these ones and zeros.
02:55Each one of these digits is called a bit.
02:58And inside your computer's CPU,
03:00there are literally billions of microscopic transistors
03:02that act like tiny little light switches.
03:05Each one can either be off, representing a zero,
03:08or on, representing a one.
03:10That's the physical reality
03:11behind the computer's super simple language.
03:15Okay, so the CPU is juggling billions of these bits
03:17all the time.
03:18But where does it keep them
03:20while it's in the middle of a task?
03:21It needs a workbench, a workspace.
03:23We just call it memory.
03:25The main workspace is called random access memory, or RAM.
03:29Think of it as the computer's short-term memory.
03:31It's incredibly fast and holds all the data
03:34for the programs you have open right now.
03:36The catch?
03:36It's volatile,
03:37which means when you turn the power off,
03:39poof, everything in it is gone.
03:41But here's the thing.
03:43Memory isn't just one big bucket.
03:44It's a hierarchy, a pyramid.
03:46The fastest, most exclusive memory,
03:49called registers,
03:50is actually inside the CPU,
03:52but there's hardly any of it.
03:54Then you have cache,
03:55a little bit slower,
03:56but still on the CPU chip.
03:57Then you have RAM on the motherboard,
03:59and way down at the bottom,
04:00your big, slow storage drive.
04:02The computer is constantly,
04:04cleverly moving data between these levels
04:06to give you the best of both worlds,
04:07speed and size.
04:09All right, we've got the brain,
04:11we've got the language,
04:12and we've got the workspace.
04:14Now we can finally put all these pieces together
04:16and see how a computer
04:17actually follows a list of instructions,
04:19how it thinks.
04:21I really love this analogy.
04:23A computer running a program
04:24is a lot like us reading a book.
04:27Most of the time,
04:27it just goes line by line,
04:29step by step.
04:30But sometimes,
04:31it gets an instruction to jump back
04:33and re-read a chapter,
04:35or to skip ahead a few pages
04:36if a certain condition is met.
04:38This ability to loop and make decisions
04:40is what makes computers
04:42so incredibly powerful.
04:43And this is what those instructions
04:45actually look like,
04:46way down at a low level.
04:48This is a language called assembly.
04:50Because the CPU can only do
04:51really simple things,
04:53we have to break down a big task,
04:54like say,
04:55adding up all the numbers
04:56from one to a thousand
04:57into these tiny little baby steps.
04:59You can literally see the commands here,
05:01add, compare,
05:02and then that crucial command
05:04to loop back and do it all again.
05:06So to run that code,
05:08the CPU does this simple four-step dance
05:10over and over and over.
05:12It fetches an instruction,
05:13the control unit decodes it,
05:15the ALU executes it,
05:17and the result gets stored.
05:18Fetch, decode, execute, store.
05:21That's the heartbeat of the computer.
05:22And a modern CPU does this
05:24billions of times,
05:26every single second.
05:27It's just wild.
05:28Okay, let's zoom all the way out.
05:31We've seen the fundamental pieces,
05:32a simple on-off switch,
05:34and a basic four-step cycle.
05:36How do we go from that
05:37to the mind-boggling power
05:39of modern computers?
05:40Well, it's a story
05:41all about getting smaller.
05:43Those on-off switches started out
05:44as big, hot,
05:46unreliable vacuum tubes.
05:47Then came the much smaller,
05:49more reliable transistors.
05:50Then we figured out
05:51how to cram thousands of those
05:53onto a tiny integrated circuit,
05:55which led directly
05:56to the very first microprocessor
05:57back in 1971.
05:59The basic logic never changed,
06:01just the scale.
06:02And it changed dramatically.
06:05Get this,
06:06that first microprocessor
06:07from 71
06:08had about 2,300 transistors.
06:10The chip in the phone
06:11in your pocket right now,
06:12it has over 15 billion.
06:15That incredible density
06:16is why your smartphone
06:17has way more computing power
06:18than all of NASA had
06:19when they put a man on the moon.
06:21And today's supercomputers,
06:22they link together
06:23thousands of these modern chips
06:24to tackle problems
06:25we once thought were impossible,
06:26like forecasting weather
06:28across the globe
06:28or simulating new medicines.
06:30So from a simple on-off switch,
06:33literally made from sand,
06:34performing a simple four-step cycle,
06:36we've built machines
06:37that can simulate
06:38the entire universe.
06:39It's an absolutely astonishing
06:41journey of scale.
06:42And it leaves us
06:43with one last huge question
06:44to think about.
06:45If these simple,
06:46simple rules
06:47can create this much complexity,
06:49what comes next?
06:50Are there any limits at all?
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