August 2022
Intermediate to advanced
480 pages
12h 57m
English
Content preview from Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, 2nd Edition
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
Start your free trial
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Operating System
We have, at long last, assembled—at least in our imaginations—what seems to be a complete computer. This computer has a central processing unit (CPU), some random access memory (RAM), a keyboard, a video display whose memory is part of RAM, and some kind of mass-storage device. All the hardware is in place, and we eye with excitement the on/off switch that will power it up and bring it to life. Perhaps this project has evoked in your mind the labors of Victor Frankenstein as he assembled his monster, or Geppetto as he built the wooden puppet that he will name Pinocchio.
But we’re still missing something, and it’s neither the power of a lightning bolt nor the purity of a wish upon a star. Go ahead: Turn ...