Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, 2nd Edition

Chapter One

Best Friends

You’re 10 years old. Your best friend lives across the street. The windows of your bedrooms actually face each other. Every night, after your parents have declared bedtime at the usual indecently early hour, you still need to exchange thoughts, observations, secrets, gossip, jokes, and dreams. No one can blame you. The impulse to communicate is, after all, one of the most human of traits.

While the lights are still on in your bedrooms, you and your best friend can wave to each other from the windows and, using broad gestures and rudimentary body language, convey a thought or two. But more sophisticated exchanges seem difficult, and once the parents have decreed “Lights out!” stealthier solutions are necessary.

How to ...